


When World's Collide

by Rivendale



Category: Star Wars: Rebels, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 63,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25366852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivendale/pseuds/Rivendale
Summary: Takaki Shirogane is Shiro's Twin sister. She was stolen from her home as a child but now she's found her way into the Voltron Universe along with the crew of The Ghost to find him. Only things get complicated along the way and they wind up staying and helping Voltron in their war against Zarkon and the Galra.
Kudos: 1





	1. A New Beginning

Ezra Bridger balanced on his hands on the bubble of the gun turret on the top of the ship owned by Hera called The Ghost. This was a training exercise created by Kanan, who was trying to train the young teen into becoming a Jedi. Zeb the Lasat, last of his kind, stood next to the astromech Chopper. Takaki sat nearby the pair who heckled Ezra.

Kanan gazed at Ezra. "Focus. Focus on letting go."

Ezra had his eyes closed as the Ghost flew through the sky of Lothal, Ezra's home planet. He was standing on his hands as his feet stood in the air. "Letting go? I'd rather hold on if you don't mind."

Kanan sighed. "Enough jokes. Focus."

Ezra groaned as he raised one hand, but he put it back down.

Takaki knew Ezra had the ability. The boy was a force wielder, but his powers were growing so fast that it was scary. If he weren't trained, he could slip over to the dark side, and that was something that she didn't want to see happen.

Ezra groaned again. "I'm trying."

Kanan's blue eyes focused on Ezra. "Do or do not. There is no try."

The dark-haired teen placed his free hand on the bubble as he opened his eyelids and stared back at Kanan. "What does that even mean?" He raised his hand again, letting go with that hand. "How can I do something if I don't try to do it?"

Kanan gazed at Ezra as he tried to figure it out himself. "Well, see –" he sighed. "That one always confused me, too. But Master Yoda sure used to say it a lot."

Takaki chuckled. "You have no idea what it was like, Ezra." She turned her dark gray-eyed gaze to Kanan. "Do you know if he survived Order 66?"

"I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did."

Zeb yawned. He stood and stretched from where he sat next to Takaki. "I thought this Jedi stuff would be more interesting. No wonder the old religion died."

Chopper added in his own two cents.

Zeb walked up to where Ezra was trying to balance himself. He bent over until his face was in Ezra's face. "Come on, kid. Do something. Amuse me. Use the Force!" He grabbed the two lasers that stuck out from the bubble and turned the turret back and forth, knocking Ezra off balance.

Ezra yelled as he fell and landed in a box of trash. Takaki smacked her face with her hand. "Zeb quit playing around."

Zeb leaned on the top of the bubble as he gazed down at Ezra and laughed.

Takaki stood up from her spot and walked over to where Kanan pulled Ezra up out of the box. She sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Zeb. "That wasn't funny."

Zeb chuckled. The furry Lasat grinned at her. "I thought it was."

Chopper made some noises from beside Zeb.

Zeb slapped the droid on the top of its head. "Chopper thought so too."

Ezra put his hand to his head. "Does he have to be here?"

Kanan strode down the hull of the Ghost heading for the edge. "He's annoying, but there will always be distractions. You need to learn to focus through them."

Takaki nodded. "Kanan's right Ezra."

Ezra craned his head to glare at her. "You're not helping."

Takaki smiled back at him. "No, I'm observing."

Kanan brightened as he turned around. "Here. Let's try something else." He pulled out the two parts of his lightsaber and screwed them together. He held it out to Ezra.

Ezra took it and caressed the hilt. "When do I get my own?"

Kanan shook his head but put his hand on Ezra's shoulder. "Having a laser sword doesn't make you a Jedi."

Ezra gazed down at the lightsaber. "It gets me closer." He pressed the control, and the lightsaber hummed as it sprang to life.

Kanan jumped back as the saber's energy blade came toward him. "Careful!"

Ezra moved the blade away from Kanan and held it up so he could examine the hilt better.

Kanan stepped up behind him and placed a hand on Ezra's shoulder. He pointed at the hilt. "There's a control on the side that adjusts the length to your height."

Zeb, who now sat on the top of the bubble, stared at the pair as Ezra adjusted the lightsaber's blade. "I think it should be a little shorter."

Chopper added his version of laughing as two small arms were extended from the sides of his head.

Ezra gazed up at Kanan. "I think I know what you want me to do." He walked down toward the edge of the Ghost but stopped and bent over, holding the lightsaber out.

Kanan gazed at Ezra. "Okay, now close your eyes." He turned to Zeb, who held one of the small empty containers of garbage. "Okay, let him have it, Chopper."

Zeb passed the container to Chopper, who took the container with one of the arms and spun his head around. When Chopper stopped, he let the container sail, and it struck Ezra.

"Ow!"

Kanan tried to give some advice. "Be precise. Keep the blade up."

Zeb laughed. "That's it, kid. Use your body to slow down that trash."

"Ow!"

Kanan frowned. "No. You're not focusing!"

Zeb lifted the box, and Chopper sent the trash flying as if it was coming from a Gatling gun.

Ezra lost his balance and stumbled backward and fell from the side of the Ghost.

Takaki and Kanan both yelled at the same time. "Ezra!"

They both ran forward and closed their eyes as they focused on Ezra as he fell away from the Ghost. Using the Force, they both caught the teen and pulled him back toward the ship. The ramp opened from below, and Zeb pulled the boy into the ship.

Takaki followed Kanan down the ladder from the topside hatch as Ezra passed by the ladder. Kanan stepped off the ladder and stepped into Ezra's path. "You weren't focused."

"It's tough to focus when I'm falling to my death."

Kanan grabbed Ezra's arm. "You wouldn't be falling to your death if you were focused. You're undisciplined and full of self-doubt."

Ezra jerked his arm out of Kanan's grasp. His deep blue eyes glared back at Kanan. "And whose fault is that, Master?"

Kanan sighed. "It's difficult to teach."

Zeb appeared as Takaki stepped off the ladder. The Lasat grabbed Ezra by the shoulder and spun him around. "What he means is it's difficult to teach you." Zeb walked away.

Takaki glared at Zeb. She placed her hand on Ezra's shoulder but suddenly drew it back as her face screwed up to one in pain, and she grabbed her arm, and her eyes rolled up, and she began to crumple to the ground. The last thing she heard was Ezra calling out her name before panic set in and heard him yell for help.

She woke to find several faces staring down at her.

Kanan stretched out his arms to the others. "Let her have some room." He knelt beside her. "Do you know what happened?"

Takaki raised her hand to her temple. "Another vision." She turned her gaze to Hera. "Did you two talk?"

Hera nodded. "Yes, we did. But Kanan hadn't come to a decision as of yet about these visions of yours."

Sabine gazed at them. "What are you all talking about."

Takaki sighed as she sat up on the couch. "I've been having visions about my twin brother. Only—"

Kanan gazed at her. "Only what?"

"This time, it was worse."

Ezra gazed at her. "I'll say. You passed out on me."

Takaki sat up as she brushed several long strands of her dark black hair out of her face that had fallen out of the ponytail she wore. "My brother is in pain." She leaned forward as moisture gathered in her dark gray eyes. "I felt the pain. These creatures that have him, they cut off his arm." Her eyes searched Kanan's face. "I have to go help him."

Kanan's blue eyes searched hers. "Are you sure it happened? You know the Force can be great for giving us information, but sometimes it can play tricks on us too. And this could be from something that's happened in the past or possible future."

Takaki sighed. "I know this, but we need to leave, okay. We have to find him."

Kanan stood up as Sabine gazed at him. The Mandalorian placed her hand on her hip. "What is she talking about?"

Kanan sighed, and he gazed at Hera, who nodded at him. "I know this probably sounds crazy, but Takaki wasn't born in our universe."

Sabine's eyes grew as Ezra gasped. Zeb stared at them and burst out laughing. "You're kidding me, right?"

Kanan shook his head. "I wish I were. I got the truth out of the man who took her from her home as a baby. He is a zealot who is after the total destruction of the Empire at any cost. He got lost in her universe and found her home planet. But he'd found that some children are born with the ability to wield the force. Even as infants, and he stole her from her home. His intent was to turn her into a weapon for his own use."

Sabine blinked as she gazed at him. "And you know this, how?"

Kanan gazed at the others. "My master took her from him because she was untrained, and without training, she could easily turn to the dark side." He turned his gaze to Ezra and stared pointedly at the teen.

Hera gazed at Kanan. "So, are we going to find her brother."

Kanan nodded. "Yes, we can't let her or him suffer anymore." He turned his gaze back to Takaki. "Do you think you find the way there?"

Takaki nodded. "But I'll need your help, and we'll need Ezra to give coordinates to Hera."

Zeb frowned. "I don't like this idea one bit."

Hera gazed at him. "Well, no one's stopping you from staying."

Zeb gulped. "You'd leave me here?"

The Twi'lik nodded.

Zeb gazed at the others. "On second thought, I'm staying. Besides, you'll probably need me to keep the kid out of trouble."

Ezra crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Zeb.

Takaki sat in the copilot's seat as Kanan sat behind her. Ezra sat behind Hera. He gazed at Takaki and Kanan. "Explain to me again how this is supposed to work."

Takaki turned her gaze to Ezra. "I'm going to focus on finding the entry point between galaxies, and Kanan is going to boost my power by joining his power to mine. While we're doing that, you'll lock with Kanan, and when the coordinates are discovered, your job will be to tell Hera."

Ezra ran his hand through his dark hair. "I think I get what you're saying, but will this work?"

Kanan shrugged. "I know this is a shot in the dark, but I know of several Jedi Masters and Padawan who did it in the past."

Ezra sighed. "Okay."

Hera started up the Ghost, and the rebel craft rose up in the air. She set a course that would take it out of Lothal's sphere of influence and into space. Once they'd reached a certain distance, Hera turned to Takaki. "We're ready."

Takaki closed her eyes and reached out with a hand as she focused. Kanan closed his eye and placed a hand on her shoulder, and he reached out also.

Takaki let her mind roam through the different star systems until she found a spot on the outer rim. It appeared to be a hole. She focused on it. This was it. She barely heard Ezra relay the coordinates to Hera.

Takaki's eyelids opened, and she gazed out the window as the stars flashed by as streaks of light. "Did we do it?" She blinked a couple of times.

Kanan clapped his hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, you found the point where we'll be crossing. After that, we'll need you to do it again to find his location."

Takaki sighed. She felt as weak as a Loathcat kitten. "Okay."

Kanan stood and stretched. "You did most of the work, you probably need some rest so you can do it again." He reached down and grabbed her hand and yanked her up to her feet. He wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her. "Let's get you to your room."

Takaki nodded as her knees didn't want to work, and her legs wobbled under her. "Your right. I could sleep for a week."

Ezra chuckled at the pair. "I feel fine."

Kanan rolled his eyes. "Of course you would. But you need to probably rest too."

"But I'm not tired."

"You say that now, but you will be later."

Takaki grunted as she rolled over, but her eyelids stayed closed as she heard an explosion and saw the craft that escaped the alien ship and crashed landed on the planet. She listened to her brother's voice as he pleaded with someone that aliens were coming, and they needed to find something called Voltron.

Her eyelids blinked open as she saw her roommates face gazing down on her. Sabine Wren from Mandalore stared at her. "Are you okay? You were muttering something in your sleep."

"I-I had another vision, I think. But we need to hurry. Something is going on, and I don't feel like it's a good thing." Takaki rubbed at her temple as she spoke. "I have a splitting headache."

Sabine nodded, but she held up a tray of food. "Kanan said you were supposed to eat before getting up. He said you need to gain your strength back."

Takaki nodded. "He's right again. I doubt if I could even think about wrestling a young gundark."

Sabine grinned. "Actually, I don't think you could take me on hand to hand in your condition."

Takaki managed a smile. "Your right." She took the tray from Sabine and ate the meager meal provided. But she realized that the food itself was the kind that would help restore her energy. "I suppose that was Kanan's idea?"

Sabine grinned. "Right again."

"I figured as much. The Masters at the Jedi Temple were big on the same. Although, sometimes the meals tasted like a box."

Sabine grimaced. "How did you survive that?"

Takaki shrugged. "I was a kid. How was I to know the difference."

Sabine brushed a strand of her multi-colored hair out of her face. "I suppose you have a point."

They both turned to the knock at the door. Sabine walked over to it and hit the button on the side that opened it. "What?"

Ezra stood there. "Kanan wants to know if Takaki is ready to do this again. We've entered this new Universe."

Takaki stretched but managed to stand. "Tell him I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Okay."

Takaki pulled out a brush and ran it through her long black hair. She picked up the small ribbon and used it to tie her hair back in a ponytail.

Sabine placed a hand on her hip. "Not to be nosy, but why do you do that? Why not just cut your hair?"

Takaki turned around and grinned. "Well, I've never thought about cutting it before, but I do this to keep it out of my face. When using a lightsaber, it doesn't pay to have your hair come flying into your face." She picked up her gun belt and hooked it around her waist and snapped the tie down to her leg. She picked up her blaster and slid it into the holster and grabbed the lightsaber's hilt, and slipped it into its slot.

Sabine gazed at her. "I kind of wish I had a lightsaber."

Takaki shook her head. "No, you don't. Ever since Order 66 and the destruction of the Jedi Order, I've been living in hiding. Taking odd jobs here and there just trying to survive. If Kanan and Hera hadn't found me, I hate to think of what might have happened. But I need to go before Kanan comes looking for me."

Takaki stepped into the cockpit and took her place in the copilot's chair. Kanan gazed at her. "Your still tired."

Takaki nodded. "Yeah, but I'll be okay. Once we find his location, I can finally rest. Hopefully, without the visions."

Hera turned her green-eyed gaze to Takaki. "You had another one?"

"Yes, and I think something happened to him. But the Force isn't telling me much."

Kanan placed his hand on Takaki's shoulder. "Don't think about it. I can feel your own confusion and fear over this. Do as we were trained in the temple and then focus on your brother."

Takaki nodded. She closed her eyelids and focused on calming her emotions down. Once she was at peace, she opened her eyelids. "I'm ready now." She closed her eyelids again and focused on the image of her brother. Kanan joining her boosted her power. Her mind sorted through star systems until she saw a planet with a castle and a Blue Lion sitting outside of it. "I found him."

Ezra relayed the coordinates to Hera, who laid in the course. "Jumping to hyperspace."

Takaki couldn't sleep; she was too keyed up. She was finally going to lay eyes on her brother, who'd she'd never seen before. But how was he going to feel?

Kanan pat her shoulder. "Don't worry. We have no idea how he's going to react."

Takaki craned her head as she shifted her body to gaze at Kanan. "That's what I'm worried about."

The Ghost slipped out of hyperspace and approached the planet. "We're coming up on it now." Hera expertly guided the ship into the planet's atmosphere. As they neared the castle that sat on an immense precipice above an ocean, she couldn't stop herself. "Wow, it is a castle, and is that a Blue Lion?"

Takaki smiled. "It's exactly like I saw it."

Hera landed the Ghost near the Blue Lion. She turned to Kanan. "How do we want to do this, enter the castle as a group, or let Takaki go in alone?"

"We go in as a group. But be ready for anything."

Takaki and the others from the Ghost entered the castle and followed the lights that led them to a large room. There stood five other people dressed in weird clothes, but the one that Takaki focused on was her brother, Takashi.

She'd heard his name enough in her visions to know it, and seeing him made her want to run to him. But she had no idea how he'd take the knowledge that he had a sister.

He turned and glared at them. "Who are you?"

Ezra blinked at the others. "We came in search of you." He pointed to Takaki. "She led us here, your sister."

Kanan groaned as he brought his hand up and smacked his face.

Sabine reached out and smacked the young man on the back of his head.

Ezra reached up and rubbed the back of his head. "What was that for?"

Sabine's voice came out filtered from the Mandalorian helmet. "You blurted it out. Maybe Takaki wanted to tell him in private."

Ezra frowned, then he gazed up at Takaki. "I'm sorry."

Takaki shook her head. "It's okay. I'd have had to talk to him eventually."

Shiro shook his head. "No, I don't have a sister. My sister died when we were babies."

Takaki took a step forward and held out her hands. "Look, I know this is hard to grasp, but it's true. I was stolen by a man who wanted to use me as a weapon, that's all he saw me as."

Shiro glared at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Look at me, really look at me. I'm your sister."

Shiro's voice rose. "No, you're not!"

Takaki's voice rose to match his volume. "Yes, I am. The Force sent me visions of you in pain." She sighed. "You still don't believe me."

The dark-haired young man who stood by silently gazed at her. "Force?"

Zeb chuckled. "Don't ask. I'm not really sure I believe it myself."

Hera glared at the Lasat. "You're not helping matters here."

Shiro shook his head. "Look, I don't know who you people are. But it's going to take more than your word or some mystical thing to make me believe."

Before anything else could be said, two chambers rose up out of the floor. Hunk crouched behind what could be a control console. "Are these guys," he gulped before he finished his statement, "dead?"

One of the chamber's lids dissolved, and a young woman was revealed inside. Her eyelids opened as she tried to take a step forward. She cried out, "Father!" But one of these strangers caught her before she hit the ground.

The young man around Sabine's age spoke to the young woman. "Hello."

Her bright blue eyes with pink pupils locked onto his as she gazed up at him. "Who are you? Where am I?"

He gazed into his eyes. "I'm Lance. And you're right here in my arms."

She gazed at him. "Your ears."

"Yeah?"

"They're hideous. What's wrong with them?"

He released his hold on her and took a step a step back from her. "Nothing's wrong with them." He leaned forward as anger took hold of him, and his voice rose. "They heard everything you said about them." Lance screamed as she grabbed hold of his ear and twisted his arm behind his back, dropping him to the floor.

"Who are you? Where is King Alfor? What are you doing in my castle?"

Lance blurted out, "A giant Blue Lion brought us here. That's all we know."

The young woman released Lance. "How do you have the Blue Lion? What happened to its paladin? What are you all doing here? Unless—" she sighed. "How long has it been?"

Shiro gazed at her. "We don't know what you're talking about. Why don't you tell us who you are? Maybe we can help."

She gazed back at him. "I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea. I've got to find out where we are ad how long we've been asleep." Allura placed her hands on the podium, which came to life."

Pidge nearly bounced on her feet as she stared at the holographic screen which Allura gazed at. "Okay, that's how that works."

The other chamber opened, revealing a reddish-haired man with a mustache. He gasped as his eyes locked on all the beings in the room. He yelled, "Enemy combatants!" He leaped at Lance but missed and collided into another chamber. He turned around. "Quiznak! Your lucky I have a case of the old sleep chamber knees."

Ezra watched him and Lance as they both told the other what they'd do to each other and then acted it out. "Who are these guys?"

Kanan shook his head. "I don't know, but I think whatever is going on, we should help them."

Hera, the green-skinned Twi'lek, turned her green-eyed gaze on Kanen. "Are you sure?"

Kanan nodded. "Yes."

Allura's eyes grew. "It can't be."

The Altean man stopped and gazed at the Princess. "What is it?"

"We've been asleep for ten thousand years." Her voice grew hard. "Planet Altea and all the planets in our solar system have been destroyed." Her eyes lowered as sadness tinged her voice. "Coran, father is gone. Our entire civilization—" She balled her hand into a fist as her grief began to turn into a silent rage. She uttered a name. "Zarkon."

Shiro jerked as his face froze as if he remembered something. He spoke softly, but yet the word was heard by everyone. "Zarkon?"

Allura nodded as her hand tightened, and the skin stretched tight across her knuckles. "He was the King of the Galra." Her voice rose with her anger and rage. "A vile creature and enemy to all free people."

Shiro turned his gaze down as he searched his mind. Because of the crash or maybe something else, his memory was all mixed up and not exactly all there. He almost chuckled as he equated it to a piece of swiss cheese. "I remember now. I was his prisoner."

Allura stared at Shiro. "He's still alive? Impossible!"

Shiro raised his gaze. "I can't explain it, but it's true. He's searching for a superweapon called Voltron."

"He's searching for it because he knows it's the only thing that can defeat him, and that's exactly why we must find it before he does."

Zeb cleared his throat. All this talk about destroyed civilizations reminded him of his own. His odd yellow eyes, which could be disturbing to some people, gazed at the Altean Princess. His voice was gruffer than usual. "As the last surviving member of my own race, I'd like to help."

Kanan nodded. "Actually, we'd all like to help."

Allura turned to them as her eyebrow rose. "Who are you?"

Kanan pointed to himself. "I'm Kanan Jarris, and this is our pilot and owner of our freighter, Hera Syndulla. And this is Takaki, Zeb, Sabine who likes to blow stuff up, and Ezra. Our astromech Chopper is in the Ghost."

Lance gazed at them as his eyes grew. "You have a ghost?"

Sabine removed her helmet and held it at her side as she pushed her multi-colored bangs out of her eyes. "It's the name of our ship."

Lance slid behind Shiro, and he peeked around the man's bicep as he crouched a little. "It's a creepy name."

Shiro sighed. "You know us, so I guess it's time you learn who we are. I'm Takashi Shirogane, but you can call me Shiro. These are Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge."

Allura gazed at Hera. "I've never met anyone like you before."

Hera smiled back at the Altean. "We come from a place far away from here. She left out the fact that they came from a completely different universe. That might be a little hard for these people to take.

Takaki sighed as she stared at Shiro. "I wish you would—" she stopped and sighed again. "Forget it. I don't know why I even bothered." She turned toward Hera and wiped at her eye.

Hera put her arms around Takaki, but she sent a glare at Shiro. She turned back and whispered something in the woman's ear. Takaki nodded and moved over to the steps and sat down.

Kanan took a seat on the steps next to her. "It's going to be okay."

Takaki nodded as she wrung her hands together in her lap. She lowered her gaze for a moment before raising it again when a klaxon went off.

Coran gasped, "A Galra battleship has set its tracker to us!"

Allura gasped. "How did they find us?"

Lance crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not sure, but I bet its Keith's fault."

Keith glanced at Lance. "Say whatever you've got to say to make yourself feel better." He turned to face Lance. "After getting us stuck on the other side of a wormhole!"

Lance shoved his face into Keith's. "I'll stick you in a wormhole!"

Shiro quickly strode over pushed Lance back from Keith. "Stow it, cadets! This is no time to argue! It's time to work as a team!" He turned and gazed at Coran. "How long before they get here?"

Coran raised his hands and did some quick finger counting. He raised his head and gazed at Shiro. "At their speed, I'd say a couple of days."

Allura's eyes narrowed. "Good. Let them come! By the time they get here, six of you will have reformed Voltron, and together we will destroy Zarkon's empire!"

Shiro gazed at her. "How are we going to find them?"

Allura turned on her heel before speaking over her shoulder to them. "Follow me."

Allura stepped onto a raised platform where a bright white light shone down on her from a crystal above her. As the others watched, Coran proceeded to explain what was going on. "King Alfor connected the lions to Allura's life force. She is the key to the lion's whereabouts."

Allura's eyes opened, and a giant star map of the universe appeared. Exclamations came from the others.

Pidge gazed up at them, and his eyes locked onto some symbols. "These are coordinates. The Black Lion looks like it's in the same location as the Blue Lion while the White Lion appears to be nearby."

Coran leaned over to Pidge. "Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage."

Allura smiled. "Very observant. That's because the Black Lion is in the castle."

Coran gazed at these people. "To keep the Black Lion out of Zarkon's hands, King Alfor locked it in the castle. It can only be freed if the other five lions are present."

Allura gazed at the others. "As you have found, the lions choose their pilots. It is a mystical bond and cannot be forced. The quintessence in the lion is mirrored by its pilot. Together, they form something greater than science can explain."

Zeb frowned. "Well, that leaves me out. I don't believe in all this mystical mumbo-jumbo."

Sabine smiled. "I don't know. I think it would be kind of cool to fly a lion."

Ezra rolled his eyes. "You just like explosions."

Sabine giggled. "Yeah, the bigger, the better."

Allura ignored them as she continued speaking. "The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times, someone whose men will follow without hesitation. That is why Shiro, you will pilot the Black Lion.

"The White Lion is the shoulders of Voltron. They have to be able to carry a heavy weight and balance the others." She paused as she glanced around at the others. Her eyes landed on Ezra first, then Kanan, and finally, Takaki. "Takaki, you will pilot the White Lion.

"The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring. Pidge, you will pilot the Green Lion.

"The Blue Lion—"

Lance interrupted. "Hold up. Let me guess. Takes the most handsome slash best pilot of the bunch?" He flashed his best smile at her.

Ezra chuckled. "He's so full of himself."

Sabine glanced at Ezra. "Sounds like someone else I know."

Ezra spluttered as he tried to get something coherent out of his mouth.

Zeb added his own laughter as he fought to get his breath.

Hera sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Stop interrupting."

Allura turned her attention to the next pilot, ignoring Lance. "The Yellow Lion is caring and kind. Its pilot is one who puts others' needs above his own. His heart must be mighty. Hunk, as the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together.

"The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master. It's faster and more agile than the others but also more unstable. Its pilot needs to be one who relies more on instincts than skill alone. Keith, you will fly the Red Lion."

Lance throws a look over his shoulder as his disbelief kicks in. "What? This guy?"

Allura gazed at Keith. "Unfortunately, I cannot locate the Red Lion's coordinates yet. There must be something wrong with the castle. After ten thousand years, it might need some work."

The images of the lions roared and flew up into the air and formed Voltron. Allura continued to speak. "Once all the lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known, the Defender of the Universe."

Hunk started to ramble.

Shiro cut him off. "We don't have much time. Pidge and I will go after the Green Lion. Lance, you and Hunk will go after the Yellow Lion."

Takaki watched the way her brother reacted to Keith. It was familiar, like family. It hurt her seeing that, but she didn't say anything.

Shiro placed his hand on the young man's shoulder. "Keith, you stay here. If you locate the Red Lion, go get it." He turned toward the woman who called herself his sister. "Go get the White Lion."

Allura gazed at them. "In the meantime, I'll get these castle's defenses ready. They'll be sorely needed."

Coran gazed at the others. "I'll ready a couple of pods and enter the coordinates so you can find both the Green and White Lions."

Hera shook her head. "That's not needed, Coran, not for the White Lion. Give me the coordinates, and I'll use the Phantom to fly Takaki there."

Lance's eyes bugged. "Who names ships Ghost and Phantom?"

Hera shook her head. "I did, you got a problem with that?"

Lance gulped. "Uhm, nope, no problem."

"Good."

Shiro and Pidge in a pod and Lance and Hunk in the Blue Lion left the planet via wormholes. Hera backed the Phantom out of its slot in the Ghost and flew the small craft across planets' surface. They flew north toward the upper pole of the planet.

Hera gazed around at the snowy portion of the planet, looking for a likely landing spot for the Phantom. "I don't really see a good spot to set this thing down at. The terrain is just too rocky."

Takaki spotted a cave that could be the place where the White Lion hid. "Drop down by that cave. I'll jump."

Hera gazed at her. "Are you sure? I won't be able to pick you up if this isn't the right spot."

Takaki closed her eyelids and focused on the cave. Something almost like a Loathcat's purr appeared in her mind. She opened her eyelids as her gaze slid over to Hera, "I'm sure. It just talked to me."

"Okay." Hera hit the controls lowering the smaller craft down over the snowy surface below.

Takaki stood and walked to the back of the shuttle. She pressed the button on the wall that opened the rear of the ship. She stepped down the small ramp and then jumped. Using the Force, she was able to slow her descent and rolled up into a ball as she hit the ground. She stretched out and stood up on her feet. She pulled out her small communicator from her belt. "Specter Four to Phantom, I'm okay. Heading into the cave." He boots crunched in the snow.

As she stepped into the cave, something touched her mind. Not the lion but something familiar. The further down she traveled, the wider the corridor became until she saw what was so familiar. A little green wizened creature sat on a rock. Her eyes widened. "Master Yoda?"

"I am, it seems." He frowned as he gazed at her. "Long way, you are."

Takaki sighed as she sat down. "Yes, I am. I brought some friends here in search of my brother, but he doesn't believe I am who I told him I was." She let out a slightly bitter laugh. "I almost sound like you, Master." She gazed around her. "Where is this place?"

Yoda blinked at her before he spoke again. "Feel it, do you not?"

"Yes, I do, Master. It feels like a temple."

Yoda smiled at her. "It is. Speak to your brother, I will."

Takaki stood and blinked as Yoda, who was there a minute ago, was now gone. She shook her head. "How does he manage to do that?"

She heard laughter from around her. "My secret."

Takaki sighed. "Time to find this White Lion." She closed her eyes and focused on the energy. The deeper down she went, the brighter the area became. And then her eyes landed on it. It was a solid white and metal lion. It literally gleamed at her.

She stepped up toward it and touched her hand to the forcefield that surrounded it. The eyes lit up as the force field lowered. It stood up and roared before lowering itself down to the ground and dropping a ramp.

Takaki climbed the ramp and entered the cockpit. She sat down in the seat, and it slid forward. The lion purred in her mind again. She shrugged as she gazed at the controls on the dash. "Okay." She pressed some buttons, and two control sticks rose from the floor on either side of the seat. Takaki took a deep breath. "Let's head back to the castle."

The lion stood and roared, and a mechanism moved in the side of the wall. A door opened large enough for the lion to exit. It took several steps, and then Takaki shoved a control stick forward, and the lion leaped into the air, and it's engines activated. A grin stretched across her face. So this was what it felt like. A laugh bubbled up out of her. She pressed a button on the dash. "Specter Four to Phantom. I'm heading back to the castle."

Hera's voice came through into the cockpit of the lion. "Affirmative, Specter Four. I'm right behind you."

Takaki stood on the bridge of the Castle along with the others. The door opened. Hunk and Lance walked in as they both groaned.

Allura gazed at them. "You made it."

Lance placed a hand to his shoulder as he rotated the arm. "Just barely. That was a nightmare. I almost puked out there. I felt like Hunk!"

Hunk held a hand to his head. "Think of how I felt. I am Hunk."

Pidge grinned as he gazed up at Shiro. "Yeah, we had a tough time, too."

Shiro gazed at the Alteans. "Did you find the Red Lion yet?"

Coran approached them. "Allura just located it. There's a bit of good news and bad news. The good news is the Red Lion is nearby. The bad news is it's onboard that Galra warship now orbiting Arus. But wait for good news again. We're Arus!"

Shiro leaned forward. "They're here already?"

Coran nodded. "Yes. I guess my calculations were off. Finger counting is more of an art than a science."

The viewscreen came to life, showing an alien with some kind of implant that replaced his eye. "Princess Allura, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire. I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the Known Universe. I am here to confiscate the lions. Turn them over to me, or I will destroy your planet."

Ezra gazed around him. "Can he do that? Can he destroy the planet?"

Zeb gazed down at him as he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, kid."

Takaki frowned as these people who showed up with her brother began to argue amongst themselves. They had a problem, and they were actually suggesting that they run. She stomped her boot heel on the deck plate. "Stop! You're acting like a bunch of children fighting over a toy. We can't abandon the planet! We have to fight!"

The four arguing teens stopped to stare at her. Lance opened his mouth when Shiro nodded. "She's right." He turned to the Altean woman. "Princess Allura, these are your lions. You've dealt with the Galra Empire before. You know what we're facing better than any of us. What do you think is the best course of action?"

Allura stammered as she lowered her gaze. "I-I don't know."

Coran gazed at her. "Perhaps your father can help."

"My father?"

"Yes, he knew that he might never see you again, so he downloaded his memories, his very essence into the castle. Come, I'll take you to him." Coran held out his hand, and Allura placed her hand in his and allowed him to lead her off the bridge.

The door to the bridge opened, and Allura stepped onto it with her long white hair now tied up into a bun on her head. She wore a white form-fitting flight suit with pink black and blue accents. "You six paladins were brought here for a reason. The Voltron Lions are meant to be piloted by you and you alone. We must fight and keep fighting until we defeat Zarkon. It is our destiny. Voltron is the universe's only hope."

Shiro gazed at her. "We're with you, Princess."

Allura led them to a room where six tubes sat encased inside the tubes were six suits, each with a different color V on the chest. "Your suits of armor."

Shiro gazed at his armor. "It's time to suit up."

Takaki gazed around her as the others began to take off their clothes. She shrugged. It wouldn't be the first time that she had changed in front of the opposite sex. As she pulled off her own clothes, she felt eyes on her. She turned her head to shoot a gaze over her shoulder to catch her brother staring at her back. She remembered the scar that was there. She'd got it in a bar fight. She shrugged her shoulders. "It's nothing."

She pulled on the armor and ignored the looks she received from the others. What is their problem? Hadn't they seen a woman before? She shook her head. She picked up her gun belt from the floor and strapped it on over the armor. "I like to feel balanced, okay?"

Lance held up his hands. "Sure."

Allura pressed her hand to a panel that opened. Inside were things that looked like handles. Each was color-coded to each paladin's armor. "The bayard is the traditional weapon of the Paladins of Voltron. It takes a distinct shape for each paladin."

The floated over to the paladins, and as each grabbed hold, it transformed into a weapon. Takaki grabbed hers, and it turned into what looked like a Wookie's bowcaster, but not as big. She grinned. "This is great."

Allura gazed at the Black Paladin. "Shiro, I'm afraid your bayard was lost with its paladin."

Shiro smiled back at her. "I guess I'll just have to make do."

They returned to the bridge, where Coran had a schematic of the Galra battleship up on the main screen. "You'll need to retrieve the Red Lion from Sendak's ship."

Keith gazed at the image on the screen. "That's a pretty big ship. How are we gonna know where the Red Lion is?"

Pidge gazed up at him. "It's not a matter of we. It's a matter of you."

Hunk nodded. "Pidge is right. When we get you in, you'll be able to feel it's presence and track it down."

Lance grinned. "Yeah, you know how you felt that crazy energy while we were in the desert?"

"Yeah. You made fun of me for that."

"And I'm proud of that, but as it turns out, it's exactly like that mumbo-jumbo."

Allura locked her eyes on the Red Paladins. "Keith, remember, the Red Lion is extremely temperamental. You'll have to earn its respect."

Shiro placed his hand on Keith's shoulder. "All right, here's our plan of attack. The Galra Empire knows about the Blue and Yellow Lion, but they don't know we have the White and Green Lions. Lance and Hunk will distract Sendak while the rest of us sneak aboard the ship onboard the Green Lion."

He turned to Hunk and Lance. "You two will act as decoys to keep Sendak's attention on you two."

Lance nodded. "Got it."

Hunk fidgeted where he stood. "What if he figures out it's a trick. What do we do then."

Takaki snorted. "You fight."

Shiro frowned, but he continued speaking. "Keith and I will find the Red Lion while Pidge and Takaki guard our exit." He turned back to the Yellow and Blue Paladins. "Hunk, Lance, find a way to take down that ion cannon."

Hera gazed at them. "The Ghost can help. I can help distract Sendak's ship if things get too difficult for them."

Lance sighed. "And what can a cargo ship do?"

Hera took a step forward as she took offense at his comment. "I'll tell you what the Ghost can do. I can mask its signature by matching it to the signature of another ship, and she's heavily armed besides being fast, which she has to be to run Imperial blockades and evade pirates."

Shiro blinked, but a slow grin began to spread on his face. "Can you match the signature of the Ghost to one of the lions or even switch it back and forth?"

Hera shrugged. "I haven't tried it, but," a grin began to spread across her face, "I think I see what you're getting at. We can confuse Sendak if there's a couple of Blue or Yellow Lions."

Pidge grinned. "Hera, you're a genius."

Hera shook her head. "Not a genius, but I'll take the compliment."

Shiro nodded. "Let's do this."

Ezra smiled. "Operation Confuse Sendak is a go."

Pidge activated a magnetic lock attaching the Green Lion to the bottom of the Galra ships hull. She, Shiro, Takaki, and Keith exited the lion, and Pidge cut a hole in the ship so they could all sneak in.

Lance's voice came across their helmet's communicators. "Pidge, what's your ETA?"

They floated down to a great hall with purple flashing beams of light. Takaki gazed around her. It looked like part of an engine room, but nothing like anything she'd ever seen before.

Pidge opened her helmet after checking that the air was breathable. She whispered, "We're in."

They walked down a hall, and Keith and Shiro turned a corner as both Takaki and Pidge crouched on opposite sides of the wall.

Shiro stopped as he looked around. He gasped and panted as he raised his hand to grasp his helmeted head.

Pidge and Takaki both rose and walked over to Shiro. Takaki gazed at him. "Takashi?"

"I've been here before. After I was taken by the Galra cruiser off Kerberos, they brought us here."

Pidge gazed up at him. "So that means your other crewmembers, they might be held captive here. We-we have to rescue them."

Shiro looked pained as he glanced down at the deck plate of the ship to Takaki. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and tell him it would be okay. But she knew he'd still push her away.

Shiro continued to gaze down before he raised his head and looked at the smallest paladin. "Pidge, we don't have time. We have to get the Red Lion and get back to Arus."

"But we can't leave prisoners here."

Shiro took a step toward Pidge. "Look, no one understands that more than me, but in war, we have to make hard choices. Now let's get moving." Shiro turned and started walking as Keith began to lead the way.

Pidge stomped her foot and shouted, "NO!" He glanced down before speaking again. "Commander Holt is my father." He raised his head up to look Shiro in the eye. "He and my brother were on the Kerberos Mission with you."

Shiro gasped. "Commander Holt is your father?"

"Yes. I've been searching everywhere for him and my brother. And I'm not going to give up looking when I'm this close. I won't!" Pidge turned away determined to search the ship even if he had to be by himself.

Takaki knew exactly how Pidge felt. The visions had led her to her brother. She'd help Pidge one way or another. "I'm going with you."

Shiro gazed at the pair. "Wait. I'm coming with you."

Keith gazed at Shiro. "What?"

"I remember where the prisoners are held. Keith, you go find the Red Lion."

"By myself?"

Shiro placed his hand on Keith's shoulder. "Minor change of plans. You'll be fine. Just remember, patience yields focus." A door opened from somewhere nearby. "Run!"

Shiro, Takaki, and Pidge ran down a corridor when a triangular shaped flying droid appeared in front of them. Takaki reached for her blaster when Pidge zapped it with her bayard.

Shiro glanced over his shoulder. "That thing saw us. We should get out of here."

Pidge opened a panel on the side of it. "Wait. I think this might come in handy." He talked as he worked and flipped a few switches inside the bot and closed the open panel. "Now, I'll just reset the controls, and it's working for us now." The droid floated back up in the air, "I'm gonna call you Rover. Follow me!"

They ran down the hall to a locked door. Pidge glanced over at Rover. "Open up."

Rover floated over to the door and shot a beam of energy into the locking mechanism. Shiro half laughed. "Excellent, Pidge."

The door opened, and Pidge rushed inside. "Dad?" Pidge's eyes fell when he didn't see his dad.

Shiro stepped in behind, gazing at the alien prisoners of different species inside. "Don't be afraid. We're here to help you escape."

One of the aliens gazed up at him. "It's You-It's you, the Champion. If anyone can get us out of here, he can."

Takaki guarded the exit, but she threw a glance over her shoulder. "Champion?"

Shiro gazed at the alien. "Wh-What did you call me?"

Takaki turned to the others. "We don't have much time."

Pidge nodded as he spoke. Sadness tinged his voice. "Let's get to the escape pods."

Shiro waved his arm at the aliens in a circular motion encouraging the aliens to move. "Let's go. Come on!"

They led the aliens to the escape pod. As the aliens ran to get aboard, they heard a metallic voice say, "Halt!" Six sentry's appeared as they approached the three paladins.

Takaki held her hand down by her leg, and her bayard materialized in her hand, changing into the bowcaster.

Shiro held up his right arm, and it suddenly began to glow with a purple light. He dropped down to the ground holding his Galra arm in his human hand as he groaned, and the Galra hand turned purple and glowed.

Pidge gazed down at him. "Shiro, what's wrong?"

As the sentries advanced, Takaki raised the bow caster and shot of a couple of shots taking two of the sentries down.

Shiro jumped to his feet and caught a blast of energy with his energized hand. He rushed forward and attacked one sentry with a spin kick and lashed out with his hand at two others and came up behind the last one and shoved his hand through it.

Pidge grinned. "Shiro, that was amazing! Where did you learn to fight with that?"

Shiro gazed down at his hand, which was now back to normal, well as normal as a Galra prosthetic could be. "No idea.

Takaki gazed at them. "We should go now before any more of those bucket heads show up."

Shiro gazed at her. "Bucket heads?'

Takaki nodded. "That's what Sabine calls Storm Troopers."

Pidge shrugged, but the trio of paladins took off running, making their way back to the Green Lion. Pidge flew the Lion away from the Galra battle cruiser.

Hunk's voice came over their helmets. "You made it!"

Pidge grinned. "Kitty Rose has left the stage!"

Lance said, "Let's get the heck out of here!"

Hunk replied, "I hope I stopped that cannon. I could barely dent it."

Takaki sighed. "I hope you did too, Hunk."

All the lions were arranged in front of a door. Shiro faced it. The lions' eyes lit up, and the door opened. There was a hiss as trapped air from inside escaped. The door rose, revealing the Black Lion. Its eyes lit up, and it stood up and gave a mighty roar. The other lions stood and roared in reply.

Takaki gasped and nearly jumped as Allura's voice came over her helmet com. "Sendak is entering the Arusian atmosphere. We need a Voltron now!"

The lions flew up through the Black Lion's hangar and out the top of the Castle. They landed in a line in front of the castle behind the barrier.

Sendak's ship fired the ion cannon. Hera's voice came from the Ghost. "We can help with the fighters, but we can't take on that cannon."

Takaki nodded. "Thanks, Ghost."

Allura called out from the castle. "I can give you cover with our defenses for a while, but we need Voltron now, or we'll all be destroyed!"

Hunk said, "Jeez, no pressure."

The ion cannon fired a second time. Shiro groaned as the lions were rocked from the blast. "Listen up, Team Voltron! The only way to succeed is to give it all you've got! This looks bad, but we can do this! Are you with me?"

Takaki nodded.

Hunk asked, "I'm nodding is everyone else nodding?"

The other paladins all chorused together, "Yes!"

The Black Lion jumped forward. "Let's do this!"

Lance asked, "Uh, how?"

Shiro replied, "Good question. Does anyone have any ideas of how to form Voltron?"

Hunk said, "I don't see a combine into a giant robot button anywhere on my dash."

The lions ran across the ground as Galra fighters fired down on them from above. Takaki glanced up and caught sight of the Ghost harrying some of the fighters.

Pidge yelled, "This is insane! Can't they cease-fire for one minute so we can figure this out? Is that too much to ask?"

Keith stopped the Red Lion. "We've got to do something."

Hunk ran the Yellow Lion into the Red Lion. "Combine!"

Keith groaned as the Red Lion, rolled and stood up. "Hey!"

Hunk said, "Okay, that didn't work!"

Shiro sighed. "Maybe if we fly in formation, we'll combine. Take off on my cue. One, two, three, Voltron!"

The lions jumped and flew into the air. Keith said, "Here we go!"

Lance muttered, "Come on, come on!"

Shiro growled, "Nothing's happening."

Lance said, "Wait. Wait. Something happening."

Takaki got a glimpse of it out of the forward screen on her lion. It was Sendak's ship.

Hunk replied, "I do too. It's like we're all being pulled the same direction."

Shiro said, "Uh, guys, I think I know why. Look up."

Lance groaned. "What the cheese?"

Pidge said, "Sendak's ship is sucking us in like a black hole!"

Sendak's ship fired another blast at the castle completely destroying the particle barrier.

Hunk cried out, "I don't care what you say, Shiro. I'm panicking now!"

Shiro said, "No! We can do this. We have to believe in ourselves. We can't give up. We are the universe's only hope. Everyone is relying on us. We can't fail. We won't fail! If we work together, we'll win together!"

The other paladins replied in unison, "Yeah!"

Takaki grinned as a new feeling erupted from her lion. It was one of belonging. All the lions roared and formed Voltron, which now stood on Sendak's ship.

Keith said, "I can't believe it!"

Pidge crowed, "We formed Voltron!"

Hunk exclaimed, "I'm a leg!"

Lance asked, "How are we doing this?"

Takaki groaned. Leave it to Lance to kind of destroy the moment.

Shiro replied, "I don't know, but let's get that cannon."

Voltron reached out and grabbed the ion cannon and ripped it off Sendak's ship, throwing it over the side. Voltron knelt, and the arm that was made up of the Red Lion drew back and then slammed into the hull. The lion's mouth opened and shot a blast of energy into the ship, causing a massive explosion.

Voltron leaped up into the air and came down on the ship slamming into the hull with the Blue Lion that make up a leg, and it blasted another beam of energy into the ship. More explosions ripped through the hull.

Voltron leaped back up into the air flying high over the ship. The mighty warrior made a loop in the air and flew at the ship flying through it. The considerable fireball that came from the ship made an excellent backdrop for Voltron, who landed on the ground and skidded to a stop as clouds of dirt and dust rose up around the giant warrior.

The lions returned to the castle, and Allura with Coran on her heels ran up to the paladins. Allura smiled. "Good work, Paladins."

Lance held his helmet in his hand. "Thanks, pretty lady."

Takaki slapped her hand to her face. This guy was as bad as Ezra when he first met Sabine. Heck Ezra probably still has a crush on her.

Shiro approached with his helmet tucked up under his arm. "We did it.

Keith pulled off his helmet. "Heck, yeah, we did."

Shiro frowned. "How did we do it?"

Hunk pulled his helmet off his head. "I was like, screaming the whole time. Maybe that did it."

Takaki snorted.

Pidge put his glasses on his face, and it fell to one of sadness. Shiro placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "We're not going to stop searching until we find your father and brother. Wherever they are, I know they'd be proud of you."

Takaki reached up and rubbed her hand over her heart. It was like being stabbed as the ache grew. Takashi was gentle with these kids but couldn't or wouldn't see his own family in front of his face. She caught Allura's eyes on her. Takaki turned and removed her helmet. It wouldn't be a good idea to draw any more attention to herself.

Allura spoke again. "We won the battle, but the war has just begun. I'm afraid Zarkon will not stop until he gets these lions."

Coran's eyes slid over them. "Good thing you paladins know what you're doing because you're going to have to form Voltron again and again."

Hunk leaned forward. "Wait. What?"

Lance leaned forward from the other side. "We barely survived, forming Voltron this one time."

Coran took a step forward. "And you only fought one ship. Wait until you have to fight a whole fleet of them! It's not going to be easy being the Defenders of the Universe."

Shiro turned and gazed up at the lions. "Defenders of the Universe, huh? That's got a nice ring to it."


	2. Training Comes in Different Forms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takaki and the Paladins train to learn how to form Voltron and fight their first battle plus Ezra has to take a test.

The Klaxon began going off in the Castle. Takaki grabbed her gunbelt and strapped it to her waist while she picked up her helmet and tucked it under her arm. She ran out of her bedroom of the Castle, nearly crashing into Shiro, who also wore his own armor.

They heard a crash from one of the other rooms, but Allura's voice was frantic. "Everybody up! Zarkon's attacking! The Castle is about to be destroyed! Go, go, go! We need Voltron now! Hurry, we can't survive much longer!"

Coran's voice suddenly came over the Castle's speakers. It was over the top going on about Allura was dead, and her head came off. Takaki shook her head as both she and Shiro ran onto the bridge.

Allura gazed at the paladins who stood on the bridge and the crew of the Ghost. "It's over."

Coran stood on his knees in front of her. "Oh, I know!" He groaned. "If only Voltron had been formed."

Allura's foot moved slightly as if she were deciding whether she should kick the Altean man or not. But decided against it.

Coran glanced up, and his eyes landed on both groups. "Oh. Time." He jumped up to his feet as he threw the device in his hand behind his back.

Shiro placed his hand on his hip. "I guess this isn't an actual attack."

Allura stared back at him. "And it's a good thing it wasn't because it took you— Coran?"

Coran held up a device. "Seventy-five degrees. Oops, sorry. This is a meat thermometer."

Allura frowned. "However long it was, it was too long. You must always be ready to do battle with Zarkon. Look at you. Only Shiro and Takaki are in uniform. Keith, Pidge, Hunk, where are your bayards?" Her voice rose. "And where is Lance?"

The door to the bridge opened, and Lance appeared wearing his Altean Pajamas and Blue Lion slippers while carrying a cup of something that steamed. He yawned slightly. "Good morning, everybody. What's going on?"

Allura strode toward the Paladins. "Coran and I have been up for hours getting the Castle back in order. We had to run a test of the alarms and decided to test you, too." She held her hands behind her back. "Guess which one failed."

"Hey!" Hunk yawned. "You got to sleep for ten thousand years. Monday night, I was back on Earth, Now I've traveled through space, fought some alien named Zarkon, eaten goo in some mysterious castle. That's a lot to process."

Allura released her grip on her hands. "You must understand the stakes of our mission. Over the last ten thousand years, the castle picked up distress calls from the following locations." The map changed from a bunch of blue dots to red. "We must assume that Zarkon has taken over almost all of the known universe." She spun the map. "Earth is here. An attack on your planet is inevitable."

Hunk groaned. "Oh, no."

Ezra gazed at Kanan. "Is that where Takaki is from?"

Kanan set his hand on the young man's shoulder. "I guess it is."

Allura nodded. "Exactly. Our mission is to free all those planets. Coran and I are getting the castle ready to leave Arus. During that time, you have to learn how to form Voltron, so we can begin fighting Zarkon."

Shiro understood what she said as much as Takaki did. This wasn't going to be a kid's game. This would be a battle for their lives. Shiro put his helmet on his head. "The Princess is right. Let's get to our lions and start training."

Hera stepped forward. "Princess, we're willing to help." She pulled out her communicator. "Specter Three, we need you in the castle."

A gruff sounding mechanical voice replied.

"Don't sass me, Chopper. Get your rusty bucket in the castle, now!"

It grumbled again.

Allura gazed back at them. "I appreciate it."

Hera smiled. "You'll have to give us a crash course on Altean, but I'm sure we can pick it up quickly."

Sabine grinned as she gazed at Ezra. "Some of us quicker than others."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

Takaki chuckled as Ezra continued to argue with Sabine and Zeb getting in a jab here or there. She stepped into the tube where she could grab the zipline to get to her lion. She was glad that some things never changed.

Five of the six lions stood on the bridge, waiting on the Yellow Lion. Takaki leaned over in her seat as she drummed her fingers on the control stick.

Lance sort of echoed her. "Should someone go in after him?"

The Yellow Lion flew out of the castle. "Sorry everybody."

Shiro turned his lion around. "Alright, guys. Let's fly in tight formation until we're totally in sync."

Allura's face appeared on their cockpit screens. "Feel the bond with your lions and your fellow pilots until six become one unit, and you form Voltron."

Takaki frowned as she rolled her eyes. The Princess was asking for a miracle.

The other paladins yelled, "Yeah!" as they launched their lions in the air. However, their enthusiasm waned.

Shiro said, "Clearly, this isn't working. Let's set down for a little bit."

Keith added his own thought. "Maybe we should build Voltron from the ground up."

Shiro asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, let's try literally building Voltron like stacking one on top of each other."

Lance inserted his own two cents. "Like a cheerleader pyramid?"

Keith asked, "You got a better idea?"

Shiro replied, "It's worth a try."

Takaki asked, "What is a cheerleader pyramid?"

Lance let out a gasp. "What? Don't you know what a cheerleader pyramid is? Were you born under a rock?"

Takaki sighed as she shook her head. How was she supposed to become a member of this team if all they did was give her odd looks and insults? Maybe she'd made a mistake about coming here at all.

Keith took a shot at the Blue Paladin. "Shut up, Lance."

Lance's voice rose in pitch. "Back off, Mullet. It's my opinion."

Shiro's voice rang out from the Black Lion. "Guys, we're never going to figure out how to form Voltron if you keep on bickering like this."

Takaki sighed. "Sorry if I asked a stupid question."

Shiro replied, "There are no stupid questions. Got it, Lance?"

"Yeah, yeah. I got it." He seemed to sound a bit reluctant. "Sorry, Takaki."

Takaki didn't know what was going on, but she dared not hope that Shiro was accepting her. But she waited for the word to continue this exercise. It seemed weird to her. She watched as the other lions began building the pyramid. She lowered her head and shook it.

Somehow the pyramid went wrong. The Green Lion, which should have been an arm, was on the bottom next to the Blue Lion. The Red Lion was on top of them with the Black Lion on top of the Red Lion, and the Yellow Lion on top.

Shiro asked, "Hunk, what are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're supposed to be the leg over there."

"What? No. No, no, no. I'm sure when we did it last time, I was the head. Right?"

Lance said, "You yelled, I'm a leg!"

"I was yelling about a lot of things."

Keith said, "Shiro's the head."

"All the time?"

Takaki sighed. "Shiro's the head. I'm the shoulders, and you're a leg."

Shiro said, Let's try it my way for now."

Hunk replied. "Okay, but next time I call head."

Takaki rolled her eyes.

The lions now stood in their proper order as Shiro brought the Black Lion down to land on top of the White Lion. "Feel the bond with your lions. Now channel your energy into forming Voltron. Focus. Focus."

Takaki quickly dropped into a state of meditation as she worked on bonding with her lion. She frowned. She could feel the other paladins, but one wasn't bonding; it seemed. How long were they going to sit like this?

The wind blew clouds of dust past the lion tower. Shiro asked, "Is everyone bonding and focusing?"

Lance sighed. "Why was this so much easier before?"

Shiro sighed. "Let's take a break."

Allura's face appeared on the lion's viewscreens. "Sorry to interrupt, but I may be able to help. Yesterday, you weren't able to form Voltron until you were in the heat of battle."

The Paladins agreed.

"Perfect. Because I need to run a diagnostic test of all the Castle defenses. This should help."

Takaki frowned. Why did the Princess sound so damn happy? "I have a bad feeling about this."

The particle barrier rose, and beams of energy rained down on the lions. The lions scattered as their pilots got them to move.

Keith yelled, "Allura, what are you doing?"

"Running a diagnostic test and inspiring you! I believe in you, Paladins! Let fear by your guide! Form Voltron!"

Shiro, with Takaki trailing him, entered the lounge. "What are you doing here? We're not taking a break."

Allura gazed at the paladins from the opposite side of the room. "Shiro's right. You should be training."

Hunk groaned. "We've been training."

Takaki yanked her helmet off her head. "You call this training?" She snorted. "This is nothing. Where I came from, we trained from the moment we got up to the moment the—" she stopped as her face froze. Memories of Order 66 came to mind. Finding out most of the Jedi masters were gone, slaughtered. Younglings and others like herself dead at the hands of their clone troopers. Others hunted down by bounty hunters. It brought tears to her eyes.

The door opened to the lounge, and Kanan stepped inside. "Takaki, breath."

She turned her gaze up to the older man. "Kanan?"

"I felt the disturbance. You're an emotional mess right now."

Lance gazed at them. "How'd you know? You got some kind of connection?"

Kanan brushed his hand across the small beard on his chin. "You could say that the connection. And to answer the question, I see, we're friends."

Lance gasped as his eyes bugged. "Your not like some kind of super-secret space ninja's?"

Kanan laughed. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Lance spluttered. "What?" He shook his head. "Ninja's are sneaky. You two have to be ninja's."

Takaki rubbed at the back of her neck. "Sorry, Kanan. I got to thinking about before, and I kind of lost it."

Kanan gazed into her dark gray eyes, the same color as Shiro's. "It happens, but try not to lose control next time." He turned his gaze to Shiro. "I should let you get back to training."

Coran gazed at the paladins. "You should work out on the training deck."

Hunk gazed up at the Altean. "There's a training deck?"

Takaki's eyes grew at the size of the training deck. It was huge. Almost as large as the flight deck of an Imperial Star Destroyer.

Coran's voice came from a control booth overlooking the deck. "Okay, listen up, guys. The paladin code demands you put your team member's safety above your own. A swarm of drones is about to attack. It's up to each of you to do everything you can to protect the other members of your team."

Takaki locked her eyes on several flying balls that must have been the drones that Coran talked about. They looked like smaller versions of the training droids used at the temple. She closed her eyes, tapping into the force, and seeing the images in her mind. The shield on her wrist gauntlet activated. She stood in between Shiro and Pidge and took a step back.

When the drones began firing, Hunk ducked, and Pidge was the first one down, quickly followed by Hunk. The last four remaining paladins tightened up their defensive postures as the drones firing increased.

Lance glanced over his shoulder. "You keeping up over there, Keith?"

Keith clenched his jaw. "Just concentrate on keeping me safe."

Lance scoffed. "Me? I own this drill. You're the one who needs to concentrate." He shifted his position, and Keith went down. Quickly followed by Lance.

Takaki continued to concentrate, but one snuck in and zapped her. Shiro was the last to go down.

The lions flew across Arus' landscape. Coran's voice came through their helmet's coms. "You'll never be able to form Voltron unless each of you has a strong bond with your lion."

Lance replied, "No problem. Me and Blue are best buds for life, for real."

"Perfect! Then you won't have any issues with this exercise. Everyone, put your lions into a nose dive! This is an expert level drill that you shouldn't attempt until you've been flying for years, but we're in a bit of a rush, so here we go. Activating training helmets."

As the other teens yelled, Lance screamed, "Coran, what's happening? I can't see."

Coran replied, "You must learn to see through your lion's eyes. The goal is to pull up right before you crash into the ground. Feel what the lion feels."

Takaki did her best to ignore the others, especially Lance and Keith, since they were in a competition as to who could reach the ground the fastest, and then they crashed. She took a deep breath and released it as she cleared her mind blocking out everything else but her lion.

Her stomach fluttered as a tingling began in her head and surged outward throughout her body. She let out a gasp. Even though she couldn't see anything through the darkness of the helmet, she could now see the ground that was rapidly rising to meet her lion. She pulled back on the control stick and leveled the lion out and flew it across the ground. She couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. She was actually doing it. Her lion purred.

A bubble of laughter escaped from her chest. She heard Shiro say that he was getting it. She rolled her eyes but laughed again. He was her brother, so yeah, he should get it.

The paladins returned to the training deck. They now sat in a circle wearing some strange Altean device on their heads. Coran's voice came from the control room. "This is the most important part of paladin training. You need to meld your minds and focus on one thing, Voltron. This technique will be essential every time you form Voltron." Coran's voice continued, encouraging them to clear their minds.

Takaki didn't know if she wanted to see into the minds of the others much less her own. Would they be able to handle her memories over the things she'd seen and heard? She took a cleansing breath and closed her eyes.

Things seemed to be going well until one paladin lost focus. Keith glared at the smallest of the paladins. "Pidge, stop thinking about your girlfriend."

Pidge glared back at him. "I wasn't! Hunk was running around in my head!"

Hunk frowned, and he fiddled with his fingers, "I thought we were open. You can look around in my head hole."

Coran said, "Everyone has to be able to look in everyone's head holes!" Takaki glanced up at the control room, and Coran didn't look happy as he raised his arms over his head. "Clear your minds!"

Takaki closed her eyes and focused again. In her mind, she saw the white lion moving forward with the other lions, and then they actually began forming Voltron with the holographic images that their minds created. Until Pidge lost focus again.

Lance yelled, "Pidge!"

Pidge stood up and yanked the mind-melding device off his head, stood up, and threw it down on the ground. "I'm done with this! Look, I don't like everyone running around in my head!"

Shiro gazed up at her. "Oh, come on, Pidge, we're starting to get the hang of this."

"I'm tired. Okay?"

Takaki didn't need the force to know that it was more than being tired for Pidge. The smallest paladin was missing his family.

Shiro nodded. "Okay. Let's take a break."

Coran appeared from the control booth. He passed out some pouches. Takaki gazed at hers. She watched the others take the straw and stab it into the bag. She did the same. She sipped it and discovered the content was water.

Allura stepped onto the training deck and strode over to them. She placed her hands on her hips. "What are you doing lying around. You're supposed to be training!"

Coran crossed his arms over his body. "Just resting a bit. You know you can't push too hard."

Allura's voice rose as well as her anger. "What do you mean, can't push too hard? Get up, you lazy lumps. It's time you face the Gladiator!"

Coran headed for the control room with Allura on his heels. His voice echoed in the training room as he spoke. "To defeat the Gladiator, six paladins must fight as one."

The paladins spread out each one with bayard in hand. A round hatch slid open, and a mechanical warrior fell from the ceiling brandishing a staff. It landed on the floor and jumped up, charging Hunk. The Yellow Paladin yelled and fired his giant cannon-like bayard, but he didn't have control over the weapon, and the shots went wild, missing the robot warrior. The Gladiator swung the staff and knocked Hunk's feet out from under him, and then it struck the helpless paladin with a stunning electrical charge.

Pidge charged the robot, but his strikes weren't sufficient, and he landed stunned on the floor next to Hunk.

Takaki frowned, but she raised her bowcaster bayard and fired several shots at the Gladiator who evaded her shots. Why were they fighting it singly? Coran said that we had to take it down as a team.

The robot now set its one-eyed gaze on Lance, who fired his own bayard at the metallic warrior. Keith moved in from behind and tried to attack from behind, but the Gladiator held him off while still striking the Blue Paladin and took him out.

Shiro fired up his Galra hand, but he froze as Keith jumped in to try to stop the robot. Takaki gnashed her teeth together. No clanker was going to take out her brother.

She dropped her bayard, and it clattered to the floor. Keith gazed over at her. "What are you doing?"

"What I have to do!" She gripped the hilt of her lightsaber and pulled it out of its slot. She pressed a button on the side, and it hissed as it came to life, and the blade made a loud hum.

Takaki threw her hand out in front of her, and the Gladiator rose from the ground. She pushed her hand, and it flew backward in the air. She rushed forward as the robot started to get to its feet. She swung the lightsaber and stabbed it into the metallic warriors' chest.

She deactivated the lightsaber and slid it back into her gunbelt and walked over to where she dropped her bayard and picked it up. She ignored the looks from the others.

Lance stood up as he pointed at her. "I told you all she was some kind of space ninja."

Allura stepped onto the training deck. She stared at Takaki. "I have only heard of one other person being able to wield a weapon like that. That was the original paladin of the White Lion."

Takaki turned to face her. "Look, I'm nothing special. Where I came from, the Jedi were peacekeepers. There were thousands," she turned away for a moment as she thought of several of the old masters like Mace Windu. She turned back to face the princess again. "But now the Jedi are pretty much extinct or in hiding. We were betrayed from within." She turned to face Lance. "I still have no idea what you mean by calling me a ninja."

Lance gazed at her. "I want to be a ninja too. Train me."

Takaki groaned as she slapped a hand to her face.

The Paladins and the crew from the Ghost sat down to dinner. Coran bounced on the balls of his feet. "Ahoy, young paladins. I've whipped up a big batch of focusing food. After this meal, you'll be forming Voltron six times a movement and twice on the astral conflux!"

Shiro gazed up at the Altean. "Smells great, Coran. Thanks."

Zeb gazed down at his plate and murmured to Ezra. "This is what he calls food?"

Kanan leaned forward and shot a gaze at Zeb that clearly said for him to knock it off.

As Shiro and the other paladins lifted up their sporks, Coran suddenly brought out a device and aimed it at them. They found themselves handcuffed together.

Lance shocked turned his gaze to the Altean. "Hold the phone!"

Coran placed his hand on his hip. "I saw a lot of solid individual performances today. But you're still struggling to work as a team. So welcome to the final bonding exercise of the day. This one's a classic. You get to feed each other, like a pack yalmors!"

Takaki gazed at the Ghost crew. Kanan shrugged. "It wasn't my idea."

The Princess entered the room and sat down in her seat at the head of the table. Coran served her and waited at her side for anything else as she started eating in silence.

The paladins tried to feed themselves, but it was turning into a major train wreck. Hunk tried to bring up a spoon of the goo to his mouth, but Lance pulled his arm back. Only his pull caused Keith's hand to go into the Blue Paladins plate of goo. Lance turned and glared at the Red Paladin. "Oh, nice. You defiled my food, goo."

Keith yelled back at him. "It's your fault! This is ridiculous!"

Allura growled. "Do Earthlings ever stop complaining?"

Shiro raised an eyebrow as he gazed back at her. "Can't you give us a break? Everyone's been working hard today."

Keith yelled from down the table. "Yeah! We're not some prisoners for you to toy with, like—"

Lance added quickly, "Like a bunch of toy prisoners!"

Keith nodded. "Yeah! Thank you, Lance!"

Zeb grinned. He was enjoying the show.

Ezra leaned over to Zeb. "I wonder which one is going to crack first."

Zeb chuckled. "I'd say the smallest one. He hasn't said a word yet."

Hera sighed. "You know, you two could be a little more courteous to our hosts."

Sabine hid her mouth behind her hand as she grinned.

Coran yelled, "You do not yell at the Princess!"

Pidge leaned back in his seat. "Oh, the princess of what? We're the only ones out here, and she's no princess of ours!"

A large spoon of food goo slapped Pidge in the face.

Keith grabbed his plate and lifted it as he yelled, "Go loose Pidge!"

Coran stepped in the way of the plate of food goo, and then using a ladle, he slapped all the paladins with food goo.

Takaki wiped the goo off her face and glared at the pair. "You know I was going to let you two slide, but not after this!" She grabbed two handfuls of goo and threw it at the Alteans.

Food goo started flying around the room. Hera and Sabine got out of the way, but soon Zeb, Ezra, and Kanan were involved in the fight too.

Allura flopped down slowly into a chair. She gazed down at the floor as the food fight seemed to come to a stop.

Takaki gazed around at her fellow paladins as the others also stared at her and each other. She couldn't stop herself from laughing at the green-coated messes they all were.

Allura yelled, "Enough! Do you see what you're doing?"

Zeb scratched at the back of his head. "Uh, no."

Kanan shoved the Lasat from behind. "That wasn't directed at you."

Allura's head rose as her eyes gleamed, and a huge smile spread across her face. "You're finally working together as one!"

Keith smiled as he turned toward Lance. "Hey, she's right!"

The Blue Paladin leaned toward Keith. "I actually don't hate you right now."

Hunk grinned. "Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?"

Shiro raised his arm, and the handcuff clanked against Hunk's as it went up with the Black Paladins. "Let's go form Voltron!"

The paladins left the dining room after Coran released them and went to their access point to get to the ziplines that carried them to their speeders, which took them to their lions. As a group, they flew out of the castle and formed Voltron for the first time as a team.

The paladins after showering and changing clothes gathered in the lounge. Lance's grin stretched wide as he threw his arm up in the air. "Man, that was cool! I'm so charged up; I don't know if I'm going to be able to sleep tonight!"

Keith shook his head. "Not me. When my head hits the pillow, I'm going to be lights out."

Takaki smirked as the paladins continued to smirk, but her attention was drawn to the door as it opened, and Kanan stepped into the room. She stood and walked over to him. "Is anything wrong?"

"No, but I wanted to talk to you. I need to ask a favor."

"Anything."

Kanan rubbed the back of his neck. "It's Ezra. I know he's a bit old for this, but I need to get him to the temple for his Kyber crystal, and I thought that maybe after your training tomorrow, you could take us in the White Lion."

"I'll have to clear it with Shiro first, but it shouldn't be a problem."

Kanan clapped her on the shoulder. "Thanks." He turned and strode out of the lounge.

An involuntary shiver ran up her back as she turned to find Shiro staring at her. Takaki's eyes scanned around the room, not seeing the other paladins in the room. She placed her hand on her hip. "Was there something you wanted?"

"Yeah, I need to know everything about you since we're teammates."

Takaki sighed, but she walked over to one of the couches and sat down. She pulled her feet up onto the couch and pressed her chin to her knees. "Fine." She released another sigh. "I was four when Caleb Doom and his master found me and freed me from the man who tried to turn me into a weapon. They took me to the Jedi Temple. There I was tested, and they found I was not only suspected to be a force wielder but was a good candidate to become a Jedi Knight."

Shiro's eyebrow rose. "Wait. Who's Caleb Doom?"

A soft smile tugged at her lips. "He was a padawan. He was in training to be a Jedi Master, but I'll get to him. When I was eight, I was sent on a quest to get my Kyber crystal along with others my age, a few older a few younger." She pulled out the lightsaber as she raised her head, and a weak laugh escaped her lips. "I was told it was a test. It was difficult, but once I had the crystal, I had to build my lightsaber. It took me three tries to build it right, but I did it. Although I was watched by a droid whose task it was to watch over us and point out where we went wrong but not help us."

Shiro crossed his arms over his chest. "That sounds difficult for an eight-year-old."

Takaki nodded. "It was." She took a few breaths before speaking again. She brought her eyes up and locked them on Shiro's. Moisture gathered in her eyes as she started talking again. "But when I turned eleven, my whole world changed. Order 66 was broadcast."

Shiro couldn't help but notice that her eyes were haunted. "You've mentioned that before. What was it?"

Takaki drew in a shuddering breath. "During that time, the Republic was at war with the Separatists. We had an army of clones who were created to fight for the Republic, but no one knew that those clones had a control chip in their brains." She stopped talking again. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for a way of escape or a way to change the subject.

Shiro gazed at her as he prodded her for an answer. "And?"

She took another breath. "At one time, there were at least ten thousand Jedi. The clones treated them as generals. But the clones turned on the Jedi and killed many. I-I wasn't in the temple when one member of the order turned and killed everyone." Her breath rushed out of her mouth as she fought to gain control over her emotions. A tear slid out of her eyes. She dropped her feet to the floor.

Shiro started to rise, but she waved him away. Takaki reached up and wiped the moisture off her face. "Do you know how it is to feel the deaths of friends?"

Shiro shook his head. "No."

"I do. I felt them die that day. I hear their screams in my head all the time." She stopped as a sob was torn from her throat. "I ran and found a place to hide. I survived by hiding who and what I was and worked odd jobs. At seventeen, I got work in a bar. It did provide a steady income, but then Hera and Caleb appeared when I was twenty. Although Caleb had changed his name to Kanan. They got me to join them, and I've been with them for the last five years."

Takaki raised her hands to her face. "I can still hear them," she muttered as her sobs grew. The couch cushion next to her sank as an arm snaked around her shoulders, pulling her next to Shiro. He was warm, and she heard his chest rumble as he whispered in her ear that everything was okay, but for her to let it out. She reached out and grabbed his shirt as small circles were rubbed on her back.

Shiro's dark-gray eyes gazed down at her. He thought back to when they first met a couple of days ago. He'd denied that she was his sister, but now? It was possible. He studied her face. The cheekbones were like his, and her eyes were exactly like his too. Although, thankfully, her chin was rounder than his square jaw. And then it hit him in the face like a Mack truck. She looked just like his mother, well except for the eyes.

He couldn't hide the smirk that pulled at his lips as he thought about how muscular he was. Thank goodness she wasn't. But she was thinner.

Another thought came to mind. He'd have to ask Coran if there was something like a DNA test they could take that would give him the proof that he needed that she was his sister. And what was this stuff about this force wielding stuff? He needed to know more about that too.

A soft smile pulled at his mouth as Takaki's breath evened out, and her sobs quieted to snuffling. His eyes lowered as he gazed down on her face to find her eyelids closed.

Shiro smiled as he and the paladins entered the dining room. "Great job training today guys, we're really getting the hang of Voltron."

Lance grinned. "Seriously, how far do you think my Lion kicked that broken alien ship? Must have been like a mile." Lance crossed his arms over his chest as he smirked.

Keith craned his head and glared at the Blue Paladin. "Yeah, that'll come in handy when the Galra challenges Voltron to a soccer match!"

Lance turned to Keith. "Hey, I did something cool, and you can't handle it. I get it."

Keith sighed and rolled his eyes. "Your kick ruined our balance. We fell."

Lance placed his hands on his hips. "That falling part was Hunk's fault."

Hunk sitting at the table gazed at Lance. "Hey!"

Takaki, who was in the process of sitting down, stopped. "You know what, I don't have time for this." She sat down in her chair and removed her helmet. As she placed it down, she turned her gaze to the Black Paladin. "I have to leave as soon as lunch is over. Kanan wants me to fly him and Ezra to the place where I found the White Lion. It's time for Ezra's test."

Lance gasped. "Test? What kind of test? Is it a ninja test? Can I come along too?"

Takaki frowned as she turned her gaze to the Blue Paladin. "Lance, it's not that kind of test. This is serious, and no, you can't come. Ezra doesn't need any distractions."

Lance gripped his gloved hands together and flashed her his best smile. "Please. I won't be a distraction."

Shiro remembered her words from the night before about her own test. "I'm sorry, Lance, but I have to agree with her you can't go. But I'm going with her."

Lance spluttered as he slammed his hands down on the table. "Why do you get to go, and I don't?"

Keith sighed. "Because Shiro's the leader."

Lance plopped down in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "This is so not fair."

A door opened, and Coran stepped out carrying a covered tray. "Hello, guys. How was the Voltron workout?"

Shiro gazed at the Altean. "We're getting there. How are the repairs coming on the Castle so we can leave this planet? I feel like we're sitting ducks here."

Coran set the tray on the table. "Just about. In the meantime, to get your minds off those duck seats you're worried about, I made you guys an authentic ancient paladin lunch." He pulled the lid off.

Takaki's face turned to one of disgust. It reminded her of a Rhodian's head. She rose up out of her seat as the others also expressed their own disgust to the meal. She stood up. "I think I'll go find Kanan and Ezra."

Shiro jumped up from his chair. "I'm going to go with you."

Takaki lowered her voice as they strode away. "We can grab something from off the Ghost."

"Sounds good. It'll probably be better than what Coran made."

Takaki smirked. "Even a ration bar will taste better."

Takaki and Shiro found Kanan and Ezra on the training deck. Ezra was using Kanan's lightsaber and trying to deflect the bolts coming from the drones. He wore a weird helmet on his head.

Ezra yelped as he was shocked by a blast from a drone. "Why do I have to do this with the blast shield down."

Kanan crossed his arms over his chest. "You need to learn to open yourself to the force, and then you can use it to visualize the beams coming at you. Trust me, it helps in a fight."

Takaki smirked as she bit off a bite of the ration bar and chewed. "This looks familiar."

Kanan gazed over at the pair of paladins. "Yeah, it does. So, are we a go?"

Shiro swallowed his bite of the bar. "Yeah, we are, and I'm coming with you. I'd like to see where we're going." He glanced up at the ceiling. "Training sequence off."

Ezra pulled off his helmet. "Uhm. What's going on?"

Kanan pointed at the boy. "It's time for you to take a test."

"A test? What kind of test?"

Kanan gazed at the dark-haired fourteen-year-old. "It's a test to see if you can be a Jedi."

"I thought I was already one."

Kanan rolled his eyes. "No, I said you had the potential, but you lack discipline."

"And who's fault is that, Master?"

Shiro chuckled as he gazed at Kanan as they walked out of the training room, "I feel your pain."

"That bad, huh?"

Takaki grinned. "You should have heard Keith and Lance earlier. They're like fire and water."

Shiro grinned as he nodded. "Yeah, they are."

Kanan gazed as the pair of paladins as he raised a hand to rub at the beard on his chin. "You know there's something different about you two. You seem to be getting along better."

Shiro bobbed his head quickly. "We talked last night."

Ezra sighed. "Okay, enough talking, can we get on with this test before I die of boredom."

Takaki grinned. "We should get on with it." She led the way out of the training deck toward the White Lion's hangar. She shivered as eyes locked onto her again. She turned her head slightly and caught a glimpse of white and blue, following them out of her peripheral vision. "We need to pick up the pace. Lance is following us."

Ezra gazed up at Takaki as they raced down the hallway. "What is his problem?"

Takaki shrugged her shoulders. "He's got it into his head that we're some kind of space ninja's or something."

Kanan nearly stopped. "Ninja? What's that?"

Shiro replied as they neared the White Lion's hangar. "Ninja's were warriors who blended in with the population and conducted stealth missions."

As they entered the hangar, the White Lion sensing the urgency crouched and dropped its ramp. Takaki raced up the ramp with Kanan and Ezra on her heels, and Shiro followed."

The ramp raised, and the White Lion stood. Takaki's last sight before the Lion launched was Lance throwing his helmet down on the floor.

Ezra stood behind Takaki. "So, where are we headed for this test?"

Kanan gazed at Ezra. "That's what you're going to tell Takaki so she can fly us there."

"How?"

Kanan released a small sigh. "I want you to meditate and let the force guide you."

Ezra frowned. "What if I can't find it?"

"That's part of the test. Trust yourself. Trust the Force."

Ezra closed his eyes. "I see a cave, it's north of here in the snow, and I think," Ezra shook his head. "No, I know there are two entrances to it."

Takaki craned her head to gaze at the teen. "Good job."

Ezra stared at her. "You knew where it was."

A laugh bubbled up out of her as she grinned. "Where do you think I found the White Lion?"

Ezra shook his head and rolled his eyes.

Takaki shoved one of the control sticks forward as Shiro spoke quietly into his helmet from the side low enough so that only Takaki would hear. "That was pretty sneaky to make the kid figure it out."

She leaned toward Shiro and spoke as quiet in return. "This is his test. He's got to figure things out for himself."

"And you did the same thing at eight?"

"Yeah, I did. Although my test was different, we need to know if he has the actual ability to be a Jedi."

It took minutes for the White Lion to get to their destination. It roared, and the metal door in the side of a cliff opened. Takaki flew the lion inside, and it landed in the giant room where she'd found it.

She rose from her seat as the lion crouched and lowered its ramp.

The small group walked down the ramp. Shiro whistled through his teeth as he gazed at several of the pillars that held the roof up. "This place is huge."

They gazed at two passageways. Takaki pointed to the left. "That's the way I came in."

Ezra walked toward the other door when he suddenly screamed.

Shiro appeared next to the boy, his Galra arm activated ready for a fight. But what he found was the mummified corpse of someone who sat there as if waiting for someone to return.

Kanan joined Ezra. "In here, you'll have to face your worst fears and overcome them. And there's no guarantee of success."

Ezra brought his hand up to his chest. "I have plenty of faith. The faith you'll keep me on track." Ezra started to walk away, heading for the door on the right.

Kanan replied, "I'm not going with you."

Ezra turned around quickly and had to brush his raven black hair out of his face. "What? Where are you going to be?"

Kanan motioned toward one of two mummified corpses. "Right here, with them. Masters whose Padawans never returned."

Ezra's blue eyes grew as he leaned toward Kanan and raised his hands up in front of him; they moved as he spoke. "You're putting your life in my hands?"

Kanan shrugged. "You put your training in mine."

Ezra turned and walked away.

Kanan sighed. "Good luck."

The door opened as Ezra approached. As he entered the doorway, Ezra turned around as the door began to close. "Wait. What is it I'm looking for?"

Kanan called out before the door closed. "Nothing and everything."

Ezra yelled back at him before the door completely closed. "That doesn't help!"

"I know. But that's what my master told me."

Takaki placed her hand on Kanan's shoulder. "He'll be okay."

Kanan gazed at the two mummified corpses. "I hope so."

Shiro gazed around the room. He had the sense of someone watching him. He walked toward the path that Takaki said she came down and found his way into a smaller place but with several rocks and stones strewn about haphazardly. He looked up to see a tiny little green figure with big ears and wisps of white hair on his head. It held what appeared to be a cane.

"Came, you did." It spoke to Shiro.

Shiro cocked his head as he gazed at it. "Huh?"

"Come, come, sit. Spoke of you, she did."

Something about the creature told him he wasn't in danger. He walked over to where it sat and sat down on the ground by it. "Who or what are you?"

"Yoda."

Shiro gazed up at the creature. It seemed to speak in riddles, but he saw the intelligence in its eyes. He frowned as he thought about what this Yoda said. It said she spoke of him. Did it mean Takaki?

A smile touched its face. "Good."

"How did you know that I figured out you were talking about Takaki?"

Yoda continued to smile. "The Force. Wondering, you are."

Shiro nodded. "Yes, I have to know. She looks so much like my mother. Is she really my twin? Was she as she says taken from my home as an infant?"

Yoda stared back at him. "Feelings, you must search."

Shiro sighed. "Search my feelings? What does that mean?"

Yoda smacked the cane on the rock, getting Shiro's attention. "Trust."

Shiro gazed at Yoda. "Are you telling me to trust my feelings?"

Yoda grinned again. "Strong, the Force is, but Takaki is stronger."

Shiro blinked as he gazed at Yoda. "You're saying that she is my sister?"

Yoda leaned forward. "Good."

Shiro gazed down at the ground. All the signs were there. She was his sister, and he had hurt her by denying that she was. All the pain she'd been through, and he'd compounded it on their first meeting. He brought his human hand up to his face and covered it. "I'm so sorry." He murmured.

Something scraped against the ground next to him, and arms pulled him into an embrace. He heard Takaki's voice. "It's okay, I'm here now."

Shiro pulled his hand away from his face and gazed at her. "You should hate me." He sniffed as he wiped at his eyes.

Takaki smiled softly at him. "I don't, and I can't hate you. You are my brother."

He glanced up at the rock, and the creature known as Yoda wasn't there anymore. "It's gone."

Takaki gazed in the direction where he looked. "Do you mean Master Yoda?"

Shiro nodded. "Yeah, although he only called himself Yoda. Weird that he spoke in riddles."

Takaki giggled. "Yeah, he does that a lot."

Shiro frowned. "I'm confused. Yoda said that the force was strong, but you were stronger. What did he mean by that?"

Takaki pulled at her bottom lip before letting it go. "I think he meant that you might be force sensitive. Would you like me to train you?"

Shiro shook his head. "No, I think I'm too old to learn."

Takaki smiled. "Well, the offer is still there if you change your mind." She glanced away as if she heard something or was listening to a voice. "I think we should go back to where Kanan is."

They stood and walked back to the much larger room. Their eyes fell on Kanan, who sat there meditating facing the door where Ezra had walked through earlier.

The door slid open, and Ezra walked into the room. Kanan stood and gazed at the teenager. "How do you feel?"

Ezra walked up to Kanan. "Different, but the same."

Kanan chuckled. "I know what you mean."

Ezra held out his hand, showing a crystal that lay on his palm. "I found this."

Kanan gazed at the item in the boy's hand. "I don't believe it."

Ezra stared at it. "What is it? It's good, right?"

Kanan placed his hands on his hips. "Ezra, that's a kyber crystal."

"Oh. Wow. Uh. What's a kyber crystal."

Kanan softly smiled at the teen. "It's a lightsaber crystal."

Ezra gasped, then he grinned as he noticed Takaki and Shiro there. "Did you hear? I can now make a lightsaber!"

Takaki smiled as she reached out and gripped the boy's shoulder. "I heard. I'm proud of you, Ezra."

Shiro gazed at his sister. "I think it's time we got out of here. I have this feeling that something big is going to be happening."

As they strode toward the White Lion, Kanan placed his hand on Ezra's shoulder. "iI have to admit, I didn't see this coming. Getting a lightsaber crystal is a big step."

Takaki entered the dining room as Lance and Keith sat at the table.

Hunk waved. "Hey, I saved you and Shiro some food from those two wolves over there."

Takaki smiled back at Hunk but frowned as she noticed Coran's lunch still sitting on the table. "Thanks, Hunk." She reached out and grabbed the lid and covered the foul-smelling and foul looking mess up.

Lance gasped as he blinked at the Yellow Paladin. "Hunk," he whined, "I'm not a wolf. Keith, maybe but not me."

Keith glared at Lance. "Speak for yourself. You were stuffing your face just as much as I was." He turned his gaze to Takaki. "Where's Shiro?"

"He's in the infirmary with Pidge checking on those aliens we rescued."

Allura entered the room. "Takaki, your back. Did you and Shiro get whatever it was you needed to do done?"

Takaki nodded. "Yes, we did."

Lance crossed his arms over his chest. He glared at the White Paladin. "You could have let me come too. You know."

Takaki removed her helmet and tucked it up under her arm. "Keith, I don't mean to step on your toes here being that you are second in command, but Lance, you need to learn discipline. Takashi gave you a direct order that you were not coming with us, yet you still tried to by following us. Where I come from that usually gets a person killed."

Lance opened his mouth to reply but was cut off when a klaxon sounded in the Castle. Allura turned and activated a switch bringing a screen to life on the wall of the dining room.

Keith stood up from his chair. "What's that?"

Allura gazed at the screen. "I don't know what it is. Maybe it's a local Arusian. He's approaching the Castle."

Hunk grinned as he gazed at the tiny creature. "Aw."

Lance smiled. "He doesn't look dangerous."

Keith summoned his bayard to his hand but didn't activate it. "You never know."

Allura spun around. "No! Alteans believe in peace first. Let's go welcome him."

Hunk fell in step behind the princess. "It's adorable."

Lance hurried after the Yellow Paladin. "Hey, maybe we can knit him a little sweater."

Keith frowned. "I'm not taking any chances." He raced after the others.

Takaki snorted and rolled her eyes. She didn't sense any ill intentions from the Arusian. Only curiosity.

The main door to the Castle opened, allowing Allura and the paladin's access to outside. They approached the bushes where the Arusian had ducked for cover. Allura bent over. "Greetings, we know you're there. No harm will come to you."

It jumped out, brandishing an odd sword-like weapon in front of it. It barely came up to Allura's hip. It had brown like round horns on its head. It was tan with brown, a brown streak on its face, arms down to the top of its hands, and two other possible streaks showing on the top of its feet. It also had a tail.

Hunk continued to grin.

Keith stepped out in front of the princess. "Wait! He could be dangerous. Drop your weapon."

The voice that came out of its mouth was high pitched like a child's. Takaki would have thought the situation was funny if it weren't now pointing the raised word at Keith. "No one takes Klaizap's weapon!"

Allura glared at the Red Paladin. "Keith! Put your bayard away." She turned her gaze back to the Arusian. "Please, kind sir, accept my humble apologies."

Klaizap gazed cocked his head, but he stood up straight. "I am Klaizap, bravest of our warriors. Our village is over Gazrel Hill. I come seeking answers as to why the Lion Goddess is angered with her followers."

Hunk asked, "Lion Goddess?"

Klaizap pointed over to a nearby broken rock that had etched on the surface an image of Arusians kneeling before a humanoid lion dressed in robes. "The one the ancients spoke of."

A slight smile tugged at Allura's lips. "What makes you think she's angered?"

Klaizap held his hand out in front of his body as he spoke. "Destruction is everywhere. In the past few suns, a fire has rained from the heavens, and a giant has danced in the sky."

Hunk held up his arm with his hand by his face as he whispered toward Lance. "I think he means Voltron."

Lance nodded as he frowned at the Yellow Paladin. "Yeah, I got that."

Allura focused on the Arusian. "You have not angered the Lion Goddess."

Klaizap stared back at her. "How can you be certain?"

Allura clasped her hands together in front of her. "Because I am Allura, and this is my Castle."

Klaizap gasped, and he dropped to the ground before her. "Lion Goddess."

Allura leaned over toward Klizap. "Please, bravest warrior, take us to your village so that we may meet our neighbors."

Keith sighed. "What about our mission to get off this planet and fight Zarkon?"

She turned to face Keith. "Part of the paladins' mission is to spread peace and diplomacy. Arus has been our host for ten thousand years. These people deserve our thanks."

Keith, Takaki, Hunk, and Lance flew their lions to the Arusian village. Once they landed, Klaizap ran to find the king.

Keith followed Klaizap with his eyes. "I still don't like this."

Takaki sighed as she pulled off her helmet, tucked it under her arm, and placed her hand on her hip. "I don't sense anything but curiosity from these people."

Lance gasped. "Can you read minds too? What am I thinking?"

Takaki glared at the Blue Paladin and then shook her head. "No, I can't read minds. And if I could, I certainly wouldn't want to read yours!"

The Blue Paladin frowned. "But why did you use the word sense?"

Keith ground his teeth together. "Stop it, Lance. It's like you get an idea in your head. You seem to think you have gnaw it like a dog with a bone. Leave her alone."

Lance crossed his arms over his chest but couldn't get anything out of his mouth because The Arusian King walked forward. "Oh, great Lion Goddess, I, King of Arusians, formally beg your forgiveness. Please have mercy on us and accept our traditional dance of apology as atonement for our wrongdoings." He clapped his hands together, and a single Arusian female ran up. "Commence Dance of Apology! Hoorah!"

A horn blew, and musicians lined up. They began to play as the dancer began her dance.

Allura gazed at the King. "Please, there's no need for this."

The King shoved out a hand in front of him. "Moontow, halt! The Goddess has refused the apology. Start the sacrificial fire. We must throw ourselves in."

Allura's eyes grew wide as she reached out. "No! No sacrifices!"

The King spun around. "So, we may proceed with the dance?"

Allura nodded. "That's a better alternative."

Lance leaned over behind Allura. "What do you sense now?"

Takaki shook her head and put her hand on the Blue Paladins' forehead and shoved him away. "This is why I said you'd be a distraction for Ezra on his test."

When the dance finished, the Arusians prostrated themselves before the princess and the paladins. Allura rolled her eyes. "Please rise. Thank you for that, but I am not a being worthy of your worship. I accidentally put you all in danger. It is I who should be apologizing to you. I am Princess Allura, and these are the Voltron Paladins. Although we originally came here from different worlds and have different traditions, we wish to live alongside you as friends."

The King gazed up at her. "But the mighty robotic angel. Has it not come to destroy us for our wicked ways?"

Takaki bit down on her bottom lip to keep from laughing.

"Voltron? No, it's here to protect you." Allura raised her voice for all to hear. "Let it be known that Voltron will protect every innocent being throughout the universe!"

The Arusians cheered as their musicians played, and they gathered around the paladins.

Takaki sensed a disturbance. Something was wrong. She put her helmet on her head and heard her brother's voice. "Team, come in! We need backup! Hello? Where is everyone?"

"Takashi, what's wrong?"

The ground shook under her feet, garbling anything he might have said.

Keith turned and looked up at the sky. "Oh, no. We've got to get to our lions!"

Takaki ran to her lion, which crouched with the ramp lowered. She launched the White Lion and checked to see where Shiro and Pidge were. She knew the others were with them. Keith's voice was in her helmet. "Lay down some covering fire so they can get out of there."

She, along with Keith and Lance, fired their weapons at the nightmarish thing on the ground. "What is that thing?"

No one answered her. She caught sight of the Yellow Lion on the ground racing up behind the robotic monster on the ground. "Check this out! Battle Lion head-butt!" He rammed the Yellow Lion into the back of the beast knocking it forward on the ground.

Keith quickly asked, "You guys okay down there?"

Shiro replied, "Still alive for now." The Black Lion and Green Lion flew up to join the other lions.

Hunk asked, "Are the Galra behind this?"

Shiro replied, "I think so, but I've never seen anything like it."

Lance asked, "So what's the plan? Shoot at it with everything we've got? Take out its weapon? Call it names?"

Takaki groaned as she smacked a hand to her face.

Shiro replied, "If we want to take this monster down, there's only one way to do it." The lions roared in solidarity. "Form Voltron!"

The lions flew up in the air and formed the great mechanical warrior. Voltron landed on the ground and faced the monster.

Shiro said, "Remember, we are one unit, fighting with one goal."

Takaki gazed at the beast. She shivered as she felt emotions from it. How could some robotic monster have feelings? Droids didn't have emotions. But these emotions were of anger, hate, and revenge?

What should have been it's right hand began to spin, and a purple orb appeared over it. The ball glowed and seemed to spark.

Voltron leaped off the ground as the monster drew back its arm and launched the orb. Voltron dodged the sphere and slammed it's Red Lion hand into the weapon, while the Green Lion hand came up and slammed it in the chin with an uppercut. Which knocked the monster back into a hillside. Voltron flew up and slammed both hands down on top of the beast.

The robotic monster spun its hand, and the forgotten orb came down and slammed Voltron in the back as the monstrosity moved out of the way. It waved its hand, and the orb came around, aiming for Voltron again.

Voltron moved out of the way, firing all retros. Keith said, "I thought Voltron was the most powerful weapon in the universe!"

The great mechanical warrior stood. Hunk said, "Yeah, then how is this monster kicking our butts?"

As Voltron watched the orb, the monster slammed into it from behind. Knocking Voltron down. Shiro got his first sight of the Arusian village. "Oh, no. The village. We've got to protect those people!"

Takaki gazed up as Voltron began to stand. The sight froze her blood. It was the Ghost, and it was harassing the monster. "No," she whispered. She gripped her communicator to the Ghost. "Specter Four to Specter Two. Hera, what are you doing?"

"Distracting that thing."

"Hera, you've got to get the Ghost out of here. That thing's weapon is powerful, and if it hits the Ghost right, it could destroy you all."

Takaki froze the orb was now heading for the Ghost. A panel rose up that blinked at her, and her lion purred. Takaki pulled out her bayard and slammed it home and turned it. The V on Voltron's chest glowed as a burst of energy came out of it, striking the orb and knocking it away from the Ghost. "You've got a chance, Hera. Get the Ghost out of here."

She heard Ezra's voice. "But we can't leave. We've got to stay and help!"

Hera's voice replied, "Sometimes, you have to."

Takaki sighed as she watched the Ghost take a banking turn and head back toward the Castle.

Shiro asked, "Takaki, what did you do?"

"Apparently, I unlocked a new weapon for Voltron."

The monster threw it's arm again, slamming the orb into Voltron back and knocking it backward perilously close to the village again. Everyone fired retrorockets and avoided landing on top of the town.

Shiro said, "That was close."

Voltron flew past the monster who took off running after the Lion Warrior. Pidge said, "We got him away from the Arusians, but we can't take him down!"

Lance replied, "I've got it. I'm going to power-kick that orb thing."

Keith growled. "No! The last time you did a kick, we fell!"

Lance yelled as Voltron moved forward, setting up for a kick. "Stop living in the past!"

The orb flew at Voltron as the Blue Lion reached out to kick the Orb. But he missed, and the Orb hit Voltron in the face knocking the giant warrior to the ground.

Voltron began to rise as Shiro yelled, "Pidge, fire lasers now!"

Pidge replied, "Got it! Fire!" Only something went wrong, and the Green Lion drew the wings off the back of the Black Lion to form a shield. "Oops!"

Shiro said, "No! Lasers! Lasers!"

Voltron was hit again by the orb and knocked to the ground. As the warrior got back on its feet again, Hunk said, "Every time we focus on that orb we're blindsided by the monster, and every time we focus on the monster, we're hit by the orb!"

Lance yelled, "Then what do we do?"

Hunk yelled, "Orb!"

The monster launched the orb at them again. Takaki again slammed her bayard in the slot and was able to repel the sphere. But the orb still slammed into Voltron, knocking the mechanical warrior into a hillside.

Keith said, "Shiro, we gotta move! Shiro, are you in there? Shiro!"

Shiro breathed hard as he froze for a moment, and his mind flashed back to the arena. "That sound— I recognize this monster from my time in Zarkon's prison. I know how to beat him!"

The monster charged at Voltron, but Shiro moved the mechanical warrior before the beast could strike. Shiro said, "There's a loud sound when the orb returns to the base of the weapon, and every third time, that orb needs to charge up. That's this monster's weakest point. That's when we strike."

Hunk asked, "Okay, so what do we do in the meantime?"

Shiro said, "Defense!"

The monster threw the orb again. Shiro said, "Pidge, we need that shield! Takaki, try to keep knocking the orb away!"

Takaki sighed. The shield was in the way. "I'll try."

The orb hit the shield.

Shiro said, "That's one. Two more to go."

Voltron blocked the second orb. Hunk yelled, "We can't take much more!"

Shiro said, "Last one. Everybody brace for impact!"

The last hit knocked Voltron to one knee and the shield out of the Green Lion hand. Shiro yelled, "Now!"

Keith fired his laser, striking the monster. Clouds of dirt and dust rose up around it. As the clouds cleared, the beast stood up.

Pidge yelled, "It didn't work!"

Lance asked, "So now what?"

Takaki fired the chest weapon again, knocking the orb away. She frowned. It seemed to know that Voltron was nearing the end, and the emotion she sensed coming from it was joy. Voltron was still knocked down by the orb.

As the mechanical warrior began to stand again, Shiro said, "When I attacked it before, I had a sword."

Hunk yelled, "Orb! Orb!"

Takaki fired the weapon again, but like the last time, Voltron was still struck by the orb. She growled at the monster.

Pidge yelled, "We can't take another hit like that."

Keith said, "Wait for a second, guys! I think my lion is telling me what to do."

Lance yelled, "Well, whatever it is, hurry up and do it! It's about to fire its third shot!"

Voltron was hit hard this time. The monster sensing his victory charged forward. Keith yelled, and Voltron moved forward, striking the beast with the sword the was now held by the Red Lion hand. The monster dropped to its knees and exploded.

The lions flew back to the Castle, and the paladins went to shower and change. As they started to step out of their rooms and into the hallway, Lance saw Shiro wrap his arms around Takaki and press a kiss to her forehead. His mouth dropped open.

Keith stepped out of his room and gazed at Lance who's eyes were still bugged out and his mouth still open. By this time, Shiro had released Takaki from the embrace, and the pair had walked away. "You know you should close your mouth, or you'll catch a fly."

Lance spluttered. He took a breath and shook his head. "I just saw Shiro hugging Takaki, and he kissed her."

Keith shrugged his shoulders. "So?"

"So? Don't you see they're romantically involved!"

Keith shook his head. "No, they're not. They're brother and sister."

Lance screamed, "What? I thought Shiro said they weren't related."

Keith sighed. "Look, he was wrong. Anyone can see they're related. It just took him a little longer."

Lance turned and glared as he gripped his hands into fists. "So, that crazy story she told was true?"

Keith nodded. "Yeah, now let's go and see those aliens off before you get another crazy idea."

Lance shook his head. "My ideas aren't crazy, Mullet!"

Shiro, with Takaki in tow, found Pidge sitting on the bridge. Shiro said, "Pidge, there you are."

Pidge gazed up at him. "Why would you hurt my brother. You were friends?"

Shiro sighed as he gazed down at the Green Paladin. "I did it to save him."

Pidge gazed up at him. "What?"

Shiro sat down next to the Green Paladin. "My memory of the event came back when we were fighting the monster. Your dad was being sent off to a work camp with the weaker prisoners. Meanwhile, Matt and I were forced to fight in the gladiator arena. Matt was going to fight first, but he was scared. To be honest, we all were. But he was petrified, so I grabbed the sword the sentry offered Matt and attacked him with it. I told him to take care of his father before they pulled me away to the arena."

Pidge gazed up at Shiro and gasped. "You saved him? You attacked him so they would take you instead." Pidge suddenly leaned over and wrapped his arms around Shiro. "I'm so sorry I doubted you! Thank you so much!"

Shiro smiled as he put his hand on Pidge's shoulders. "I can tell you miss them. I know they miss you too. Your brother and father would be proud of you, Katie."

Pidge gasped as she pulled her face away from Shiro.

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

Takaki sat down on the other side of Pidge. "And me."

Pidge gazed up at the pair of paladins. "Can I ask you two a question?"

Shiro grinned. He was sure it was coming. "Sure, shoot."

"Are you two related?"

Takaki nodded. "Yeah, we are. He's my brother."

Shiro nodded. "She's my sister."

Pidge smiled as all three sat there, enjoying the Arusian sunset together.


	3. Sendak Returns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sendak returns to take the Castle of Lions and Lance learns you can't always trust a pretty face.

Allura decided to open the Castle of Lions to the Arusians. The Arusian King was telling the story of the battle of Voltron with the Robot Monster.

Takaki gazed around the large ballroom. Most of the paladins were mingling with the Arusians. She saw the crew of the Ghost on the other side. Zeb seemed to be enjoying himself for once while Kanan rolled his eyes at something Ezra said. Hera was in a conversation with Sabine, and Chopper was avoiding the Arusians who were trying to sit on his head. A smile pulled at Takaki's lips. She was now feeling like she belonged to both worlds.

Coran slid up next to her. "Enjoying yourself?"

Takaki turned and nodded. "Yeah."

"Care to tell me more about this force you've talked about?"

Takaki shrugged. "I guess. To begin with, its something you can't see or touch. It's an energy that's created by every living thing. It flows around or through us connecting each other."

Coran blinked. "It's an interesting concept. Can it be used for evil?"

Takaki's face fell. Of course, it could. "Yes, it can."

Coran didn't say a word as he took a sip from the liquid in his cup when Lance appeared with a sick look on his face. "Coran, what is this?"

Coran turned to face the Blue Paladin. "Oh, this is Nunvill, the nectar of the gods."

"It tastes like hotdog water and feet."

Coran dipped his gloved fingers into his cup and spritzed his mustache with it. "Yeah, it makes a wonderful hair tonic as well."

Takaki giggled as she shot a glance at the bald Lasat. She wondered how much Nunvill could be dumped on his bald head to get hair to grow.

Lance definitely looked sick. Takaki moved over and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You'll live." She turned and followed Coran, who walked away from Lance. He was heading toward her brother.

Shiro stood leaning against the wall gazing down the hall toward the open castle doors. His arms were crossed over his chest.

Coran stood next to The Black Paladin. "Not feeling well. Try some Nunvill. Settles the stomach and brightens the smile."

Shiro glanced at Coran but turned his attention back to the entrance. "I'm not sure we should be letting everyone wander in and out of the castle like this. It doesn't seem safe."

Coran replied, "Oh, these Arusians won't hurt anything. Besides, it's only fair to let them see the inside of the castle that's been sitting on their planet for so long."

Shiro turned his gaze on Coran. "But who knows when Zarkon will attack again?" He pushed off the wall. "I'm going to do a perimeter check."

Takaki called out to Shiro. "I'll go with you."

"Do you understand why I'm doing this?"

"Yes, I do, Takashi. I sense it. Something isn't right, but I can't tell from where."

Shiro nodded. "Yeah." He stopped and turned to face his sister. "So, why do I feel like something is going to happen?"

"It's because of the Force. It can give you information if you open yourself to it. That's how I learned about you and all the pain you were going through from the Galra."

"Are you sorry you came?"

Takaki shook her head. "No, I'm not. I found you didn't I?"

Shiro nodded as he threw his human arm over her shoulders. "You did at that."

Shiro and Takaki stood in silence as they gazed at the bridge that leads to the castle. A noise caught their attention. "Shiro?" Pidge said. "I need to talk to you."

"What's up?"

"Shiro, I'm leaving Team Voltron. I found a clue to where my family might be, and I want to check it out," Pidge replied.

Takaki sighed. "Pidge, can't you stay with us? Without you, we can't form Voltron."

Pidge shook her head. "No, I can't. Besides, there are others here that could take my place from the Ghost's crew."

Shiro frowned. "But what if that isn't the case. What if the Green Lion won't accept them or any of the Arusians. We'll still be in a bind."

"I'm sorry, I'm going.

Shiro sighed. "We'd better tell the rest of the team then."

Pidge gazed at Shiro and Takaki as Allura, Hunk, and Keith stood behind the Green Paladin. "I have a pod all ready to go."

Keith stepped forward and stared down at the smallest paladin. "You can't leave."

"You can't tell me what to do!"

"If you leave, we can't form Voltron. And that means we can't defend the universe against Zarkon. You're not the only one with a family. All these Arusians have families. Everyone in the universe has families."

Hunk nodded. "Yeah, I have a family back on Earth. I want to be with them. Is that, like, a thing that can happen?"

Allura stepped up to the Yellow Paladin. "You want to leave, too?"

"Of course, I do! Look, Voltron is super-cool, don't get me wrong, but I never signed up for a lifetime in space, fighting aliens."

The more Keith heard the madder he got. He lashed out at Pidge. "You're putting the lives of two people over the lives of everyone else in the entire galaxy!"

Shiro reached out and grabbed Keith by the arm, stopping the teen. "Keith, that's not how a team works. People have to want to be a part of it. They can't be forced."

Takaki could tell Keith was still angry. She didn't need the force to tell her that, but at least he stayed silent. But the waves of sadness that came from her brother made her want to cry.

Shiro gazed down at Pidge. "If you want to leave, we won't try to stop you. But, please, think about what you're doing."

Pidge gazed down at the floor. "I'm sorry. You're going to have to find someone else to pilot the Green Lion."

Takaki sighed as Pidge walked away. Could someone from the Ghost take Pidge's place? Like maybe Sabine, or even Ezra? Only the Green Lion would make that decision. And it would delay them from leaving Arus and taking the fight to Zarkon because whoever was chosen, they would have to work to bond as a team again. She shook her head. Images began to flash in her mind. One was prevalent. Sendak, but he was dead. Wasn't he?

An explosion ripped through the castle, sending screaming Arusians running for the exit as debris dropped from the ceiling of the ballroom. The power to the castle went out.

The paladins, the crew of the Ghost, and Allura all ran toward the source of the explosion. The door to the bridge refused to open. Zeb stared at it. "Let me in there, I can force those doors open."

Shiro moved up. "Not without help, and this arm can help." He flashed the Galra prosthetic arm. Between the two of them, they got the doors opened.

Coran groaned and coughed as he rose up to his knees. The clouds of smoke obscured everything, but now that the doors were open, they were beginning to clear.

Hunk reached Coran first and knelt supporting the Altean. Shiro gripped his other shoulder. "What happened?"

Coran groaned again before offering an answer. "I'm not sure. But I think Lance pushed me out of the way."

Allura sighed as she gazed toward where the crystal should be, but all that was left was a few chunks from the shattered power source. "The crystal." More of the smoke cleared and revealed the Blue Paladin lying closer to the epicenter of the explosion. "Lance!"

Shiro reached the Blue Paladin. He reached out and grabbed the teen gently. "Lance?" The only response he received was a groan. "Lance!"

Pidge spoke up. "We have to get Lance to the infirmary!"

Allura shook her head. "Without the crystal, the castle has no power."

Takaki turned to Sabine. "Do we still have those power cells? Do you think that we can use them as a temporary replacement for the crystal."

Sabine shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know if they'd be compatible. The way this castle works is like nothing I've ever seen before."

Chopper added in his own two cents.

Sabine sighed. "He says they won't work."

Shiro frowned. "He doesn't look good."

The Arusian King ran in. "Lion warriors, our village is under attack! We need your help!"

Keith said, "Let's get to the lions!"

Allura shook her head. "You can't! They're sealed in their hangars. There's no way to get them out." She gazed down at the floor. "We're defenseless."

The King gazed up at them. "Will, you not help?"

Keith replied, "We'll help you."

Coran stated the obvious. "We have to get a new crystal to get the Castle working again. But, to get a new crystal, we need a ship."

Pidge turned to the Altean. "The pod I was loading, we can use that! I left the bay door open."

Takaki knew that Pidge would make the right decision when it all came down to it. The girl had a kind heart even though she missed her family.

Coran turned to Hunk, and then he gazed at Zeb. "You two come with me. I'll need both of you to carry the crystal."

Kanan nodded. "Zeb, go with them. I'm sure they'll need your help."

Keith gazed down at Shiro. "I'll go check out what's happening at the Arusian village."

Allura turned to the Red Paladin. "I'll go with you, Keith."

Kanan spoke up. "Ezra and I will go with you. You might need our help."

Hera nodded. "I'll fly you there in the Ghost. You might need us to help. Sabine, come with us we might need your help with creating a diversion as well as you do."

Sabine grinned. "That I do exceptionally well."

Takaki nodded. "I'll stay here. Pidge might have an idea of something that we can do to get the Castle's power back on."

Shiro gazed up at the others. "I'll tend to Lance and stand watch over the Castle."

Takaki placed her hand on Chopper's head. "Let's go see if there's a way we can get the castle up and running again."

Chopper grumbled but rolled away.

Takaki found Pidge as she crouched down. She joined Pidge's own sentiment seeing Sendak entering the Castle with Shiro and Lance as their prisoners. Pidge looked up at her. "What do we do now?"

"Anything we can to get them free and get these Galra out of here."

"But what? There's only two of us and seven of them."

Takaki and Pidge moved away from the railing. "We'll have to take them out one way or another." Pidge nodded in agreement.

Takaki heard Allura and Keith through her helmet as Chopper grumbled again. The White Paladin smacked the droid. "Shut up, or I'll shut you down!" she hissed at the droid. "We're trying to be quiet here."

Pidge whispered into her own helmet. "Keith, can you hear me?"

"Pidge, is that you? Where are you?"

"I'm inside the Castle. Takaki is with me. Sendak has taken over, and he's preparing for launch. He's got, Lance and Shiro."

Allura replied, "Pidge listen. If they've started the launch sequence, then we don't have much time before liftoff to stop it."

Takaki replied, "What do we have to do?"

"You have to get down to the main engine control panel and disconnect the primary turbine from the central energy chamber. If you can do that, Sendak will have to reset the whole system."

Pidge brought up the holographic screen on her wrist gauntlet and gazed at the diagram. "Got it."

Takaki and Pidge, along with Chopper, hurried to get to the engine room to throw a wrench in Sendak's plan. Takaki and Pidge forced a door open. Pidge glanced over the shoulder. "Here, Rover."

Takaki gazed at Chopper. "Do you need an engraved invitation? Let's go."

Chopper grumbled at her.

"Of course, I know I'm not Hera, but we might need your help. Now let's go, or we leave you here where you might be discovered by Sendak and his troops."

Chopper rocked back and forth as he grumbled again.

Takaki sighed. "I don't know what they'd do to you, but I have an idea that they'd blow you to smithereens."

Chopped finally rolled forward and moved past the door. He leaned over and looked down the elevator shaft. He grumbled again.

Takaki sighed again. "You'll have to use your booster to fly down with us." Takaki and Pidge both used their jet packs to lower down to the level they needed to get too. Chopper floated past them on his booster and made a noise that was like someone giving another person the raspberries.

"Hera needs to check out your logic circuits."

Pidge said, "Okay, Allura, Takaki, and I are near the turbine. I think it's started."

Allura replied, "Then you'll have to hurry. Cross the catwalk to the main column in the center."

Pidge, Takaki, Rover, and Chopper made their way to the controls. "We're here. Now what?"

"Find the central computer control hub and enter the following sequence—"

Pidge leaned forward and gazed inside. "Wait, wait, wait! Which one is it? The labels are all in Altean! I can't tell which one it is! Allura? Allura?"

Takaki shook her head. "It's starting, and I think the radiation from the turbine cut off our communications."

Pidge sighed. She picked up her bayard. "Okay, then. Time for a little old-fashioned sabotage. Let's see them fix this!" She slammed her bayard inside the panel, and it exploded, sending her flying backward in the air.

Takaki ran over to her. "Pidge, are you okay?"

Pidge sat up. "I'll live, but at least we stopped the launch."

Takaki nodded. "We've got to move. Someone will be coming down to check it out."

Pidge nodded as they ran with Chopper rolling after them.

Allura said, "Pidge have you made it to the generator room?"

Pidge stepped into the room with Takaki and Chopper. "I'm in. This technology is so advanced I don't know if I can figure it out."

Takaki placed her hand on Pidge's shoulder. "I have faith in you. I'm sure you can do it."

Pidge heard Allura's added words of encouragement. "Okay, talk me through it."

Before she could do, anything weapons fire erupted from around her and Takaki. Both ran forward away from the Galra sentries.

Takaki yelled, "We've got Bucket Heads."

Keith asked, "Bucket Heads?"

Takaki ignored his question. She ducked behind a piece of equipment and crouched down opposite Pidge.

The Green Paladin pulled up a schematic of where she was at looking for a way out. "Ugh. Our only way out is two floors up, seriously?"

Takaki gazed down at Chopper, who stood in between the paladins. "You'll have to boost it to get out of here."

Chopper gave a mechanical sigh.

Pidge said, "Let's try this." She created a hologram of herself that ran getting the sentries' attention. One of them fired hitting the hologram, which caused an arc of energy to lash out and strike the sentry.

Pidge, Rover, Takaki, and Chopper came out of their hiding place and ran. Pidge used her bayard to swing up to the exit in the air ducts while Takaki used her jet packs, and Chopper used his booster to get there. They all entered the air duct. Chopper barely fit, and he complained about it.

Takaki sighed. "I'm going to tell Hera about all your complaining. But none of this is my fault!"

Chopper complained again.

Takaki's eye twitched as she regarded the droid. "Look, you're telling me I should have used my lightsaber? Do you have a bolt lose or something? I couldn't use my lightsaber in there. You saw what happened when that Bucket Head hit the hologram and how the energy arced. Think about it. Would you like to have been on the receiving end of that energy arc?"

Chopper said something that sounded almost like blah, blah, blah to Pidge's ears. "Man, he's some mouthy droid."

Takaki snorted. "You have no idea."

They reached a fork in the road. On one side, the air duct got smaller. Small enough for Pidge to get through. Takaki gazed at the Green Paladin. "I guess we split up here. I'll meet you back at the generator room."

"Okay. Be careful."

Takaki smiled back at the teen. "You bet. You do the same."

Takaki froze as she saw an image in her mind of The Green Paladin fighting a Galra warrior. "Come on, Chopper, we've got to get back there. Pidge is in danger."

She made it to the turbine room and watched as Rover allowed Pidge to hang from it as she landed on the bridge to the turbine. The warrior stared at the Green Paladin. "You're the one causing all this trouble? A child?"

Pidge glared back at him. "I'm not a child. I'm a Paladin of Voltron."

The warrior rose to his full height as his attention was focused on Pidge. He chuckled and drew his sword. "Let me tell you something, child. I'm a soldier of the Galra Empire. Nothing stops me but triumph or death." He yelled as he charged Pidge.

Takaki drew her lightsaber, she threw out her hand as she ran forward. The Galra was shoved backward. He impacted the control behind him as stared as Takaki put herself between Pidge and him. "Surrender, I don't want to have to kill you."

The warrior laughed. "A woman? And a child. What has the mighty Voltron fallen to?"

Takaki sighed as she shook her head. "I've met a lot of people in my life who were just as cocky as you. You all talk a good game, but can you handle the real fight?" She brought the lightsaber up.

The Galra smiled. "Me, surrender to the likes of you? A woman? Don't make me laugh."

"I hadn't intended on making you laugh."

Pidge backed away as the Galra charged a second time and swung his sword at Takaki. Takaki brought her lightsaber up, and the swords clashed. Whatever his weapon was made from, it was strong enough to deflect the saber.

Takaki ducked under his arm and spun around, hitting the hilt of the sword with the blade of the lightsaber. The sword flew from his hand. "Surrender."

He growled. "Never." He pulled his blaster and began firing at her.

Takaki used her weapon to block his blaster's energy blasts. Again she glared at him. "It's time to surrender. You can't win."

His eyes narrowed as he glared at her. He began to fire his blaster again even faster. "Victory or death," he yelled as he charged again, still firing.

Takaki aimed her lightsaber to try to knock the blaster out of his hand, but he shifted at the last minute and screamed as he impaled himself on the blade of the lightsaber.

Takaki shut down the saber, and the Galra's body landed on the floor with a thud. She shook her head. It hadn't had to end this way. He could have just surrendered. Her eyes watered. She hated taking a life, but this was war, and in war, people died. She took a shuddering breath.

Both she and Pidge heard the voice that came from the control console. It was Sendak. "Haxus, report in."

Pidge reached the console first. "Haxus is gone, and you're next!"

Sendak replied, "You've slowed me down, but this ship is mine! You will turn yourself over to me immediately!"

Pidge yelled back, "Never!"

Takaki could hear the sneer in Sendak's voice. "Well, then maybe your leader can convince you."

Her heart nearly stopped as she heard Shiro's voice. "What do you want?"

Sendak said, "Your friend wanted to hear from you."

Pidge replied, "Shiro?"

Shiro said, "Pidge? Pidge don't listen to—" Shiro screams of pain came over the control station.

Pidge screamed back in reply, "No!"

Sendak replied, "You can make it stop. Turn yourself in. His suffering is in your hands."

Takaki and Pidge managed to sneak up to the doors of the bridge as Sendak spoke to Shiro. "I'm actually impressed you managed to escape. Perhaps it would be worth a trip to your planet to see if the rest of your kind have your spirit. Of course, they will all end up broken, like you. Now that we have Voltron, every planet, every race all share the same fate."

Takaki grit her teeth together. She fought to control her emotions to keep from using the dark side of the force. Seeing Shiro with scorched armor from where Sendak had tortured him caused the hate to grow. Kanan wouldn't approve of it, and she wasn't surprised when she heard his voice.

"Takaki, your losing focus. You know where this path leads. Remember, who you are and what you are. You're not only a Jedi, but your also a Paladin of Voltron. Focus."

She nodded as she focused on his words. "Kanan," she whispered. "I killed a Galra named Haxus. I didn't want to, but he jumped on my lightsaber."

Kanan replied. "I know, there was nothing you could have done."

Takaki's voice cracked. "Then, why do I feel so bad?"

Kanan was quiet for a moment. "Because you have a conscience, that's why. Unlike these Galra, who seem to only fight for their leader."

Takaki blinked. She knew deep down Kanan was right. "Thanks for being here for me, Kanan."

Kanan replied, "No problem. Now you got to that shield down so we can catch Sendak and free the Castle."

Rover beeped over Pidge's head, getting Takaki's attention. She created another hologram of herself, and Sendak took the bait chasing after it. Pidge and Takaki ran inside the bridge, and Pidge dropped down in front of the Black Paladin. "Shiro, wake up. It's me, Pidge."

Sendak returned and used his prosthetic arm to grab Pidge. "You thought your little hologram trick would work on me?"

Pidge groaned as Sendak increased the pressure on her armor. Takaki glared at him and saw the others appear in the doorway. "Put him down!"

Sendak glared with his one eye at the others who rushed in. Somehow Lance woke up and summoned his bayard long enough to shoot the Galra in the back, causing him to drop Pidge.

Shiro rose even though his hands were handcuffed behind his back. He charged Sendak, who punched Shiro away from him.

Takaki bent over Chopper. "Want to help? Then light him up!"

Keith ran up battling Sendak as Chopped rolled forward, and a little fork-like brand came out of the front of the droid. It sparked with electricity, Chopper touched the Galra with the brand and Sendak howled in pain.

Sendak shoved Keith out of the way as Pidge ran up and severed the connection of energy that ran from his prosthetic arm to his shoulder. He yelled, "No!" but continued to fight one-armed.

Kanan stepped up. "Ezra, Takaki, now!"

The three Jedi stood in a line, each one reaching out and closing their eyes as they tapped into the force and used it to push Sendak back and pin him against the crystal.

Allura ran to the control panel and entered some commands into it and then slammed her hand against a flashing area. A particle barrier rose trapping Sendak with his crystal.

Pidge used her bayard to cut through Shiro's handcuffs. Takaki appeared at his side. "We should get Takashi and Lance down to the infirmary." She turned to Ezra. "Can you get my pack from off the Ghost. I'm going to need to treat Takashi's wounds."

Ezra gazed at her. "Why do I have to go get it?"

Kanan shoved the teen. "To be nice."

Sabine sighed. "Come on, Ezra. I know where it is."

A grin slowly spread over his face as his blue eyes gleamed. "Does this mean I can finally see inside your quarters?"

Sabine rolled her eyes at him. "No."

The pair walked out of the room with Ezra, still complaining.

Hera stepped up to Kanan. "That was a brilliant idea, love. Using the force to hold him still while the princess got that force field up."

Kanan smiled back at her as his blue-green eyes were mostly green now. "I have my moments."

Hera smiled. "Yes, you do."

Shiro gazed up at Takaki from where he sat. "I'm fine, it's Lance who needs the infirmary."

Takaki shook her head. "I can only treat his superficial wounds. I can't treat any internal injuries he might have. The Ghost doesn't have a Bacta tank or a medical droid."

Keith and Lance both craned their heads at what she said. Keith asked, "Bacta tank?"

"It's a liquid that someone with severe injuries is put into."

Allura gazed at her. "Similar to our healing pods."

Takaki nodded. "Yes, I believe so." She reached down and gripped Shiro's arm and pulled him up to his feet. "And you need the infirmary, you may not have any broken bones but these bruises, scrapes, and burns need to be taken care of."

Kanan slid up to the opposite side of Shiro. "She's right, you know. You don't need to get an infection out here in space."

Shiro frowned but acquiesced. "I know you're right. But there are some things that these kids shouldn't see."

Takaki gazed down at the ground and brought her eyes back up to meet his. "Takashi, sometimes you have to let them see what the reality of what we're facing is. I may not have seen the scars first hand, but I know you have them. They should too."

Shiro craned his head. "Keith, get Lance down to the infirmary and get him in one of those pods."

Allura turned her blue-eyed gaze to Shiro. "I'll go with him and help get him in there."

Pidge chimed in, "I'll go with them."

Not long after they left, Ezra returned carrying the pack. He handed it off to Takaki. "There you go."

She gazed at Kanan. "Help me get his armor off." Both quickly removed the larger pieces of the armor. Takaki began to rummage through the pack pulling out a bag that had an odd colored substance in it.

Shiro pointed at it. "What's that?"

"This is the Bacta. Don't worry, it won't hurt. In fact, it'll feel warm, not an unpleasant warmth." She opened the pack and dipped a flat spreader into it and pulled some of it out, and rubbed it against the minor scrapes, bruises and burns.

Shiro smiled at her. "That actually feels good."

Takaki smiled. "I knew it would." She replaced the bag and spreader and then pulled out some flat square looking items.

"What are those."

Takaki gazed up at him. "Bacta patches. They will cover the worst of the burns, and in a day, you'll never know you were burned in the first place."

Shiro sighed. "But, I will know." He pointed to his head. "In here, I know."

Takaki placed the last one on his back. Her eyes began to mist as he ran her hand over a few of the scars from the arena. "I'm sorry. I wanted to get here sooner to help you."

Shiro turned and grabbed her hand. "Stop that. You, Pidge, everyone did great. The castle is back under our control, and Voltron is safe." He pulled, drawing her toward him. "You even take care of me when I deny that I'm hurt."

Takaki nodded as she rubbed the back of her hand over her eyes. "Someone has to."

Shiro and Takaki entered the infirmary. Seeing Lance asleep in the healing pod was sort of unnerving to her. It reminded her of a Bacta tank but without the gelatinous, viscous liquid. The teen was wearing a weird-looking suit.

Allura spoke, "After a day in here, he should be fully healed."

Takaki gazed at the pod. "A day, huh? Well, that's faster than a Bacta tank. Broken bones take several days to heal."

Shiro turned his gaze to the Green Paladin. "Pidge, thank you for everything you did. I can't help but feel that you were meant to be a part of this team, but I understand if you still want to leave."

Pidge turned her amber eyes to Shiro. "Dad used to tell me how close he was with his crew members. They were like family. Now, I understand what he meant." A smile lit up the teen's face. "I'm staying with you guys. Let's stop Zarkon for all of our families."

Keith smiled. "Good to have you back on the team."

Ezra ran into the infirmary on the heels of the conversation. "Karabast! There goes my hope of being a Paladin."

Takaki snorted, and it was followed by a giggle, and then she burst out laughing. Oh, how she needed that.

Ezra shook his head. He gazed at Allura. "Coran, Hunk, and Zeb are back with the crystal."

Allura turned in his direction. "Thank you, Ezra." She turned to the others. "We must do something about Sendak. I don't feel comfortable with having him inside the Castle."

Ezra shrugged his shoulders. "If you have a cell, you could lock him up."

Pidge scratched at the back of her head. "How about putting him in one of these pods. That way, he won't be a problem for anyone."

Allura tapped a finger to her mouth, then she dropped her hand. "That is an excellent idea, Pidge." She turned to Keith. "Keith would go ask Kanan and Zeb to help escort him. Ask Coran to take you to the pods on the lower levels of the Castle."

Ezra gazed at her. "Hey, I can help. I am a Jedi, too."

Allura smiled at the teen. "Yes, that is a good idea." She turned to the other paladins. "Now that Lance is healing and Pidge is staying, you should get some rest."

Takaki didn't need ears to know something was wrong. She sat up in her bed and grabbed the provided robe, and threw it over the clothes she used for sleeping. She laid awake for several hours, unable to fall asleep herself. Images of Haxus leaping onto her lightsaber made it difficult for her to sleep.

She walked across the hall to Shiro's room. The door slid open, and she heard his groans of pain. She knelt by his bed and reached out, gripping his shoulder. "Takashi?"

A moan escaped from Shiro's lips. His eyelids fluttered open, and he blinked several times. He turned his head to gaze up at her. "Takaki?"

"You had a bad dream."

Shiro didn't need light to see the circles that were forming under her eyes. He reached out and rubbed his thumb under her eye. "You haven't slept. What's wrong?"

Takaki gazed at him. How could she tell him? He'd probably think different of her and be repulsed by the idea of his sister as a killer. She shook her head. "It's nothing."

Shiro turned in the bed and faced her. "Besides being your brother, I'm also the leader of Voltron. I have to know if something is wrong with a member of the team. Including you."

Takaki lowered her head. "I-I killed Haxus." She turned her head away, afraid of what his reaction would be.

Shiro sat up and grabbed her arm. He pulled her up to sit beside him on his bed. "Did you mean to do it?"

Takaki, with her head, still lowered shook her head. "No, I told him to surrender, and instead, h-he leaped at me and landed on my lightsaber."

Shiro reached up and pressed her head over to his chest. He let his fingers run through her hair. "I'm sorry you went through that. But to be honest, it was probably for the best."

Takaki's muscles began to move as she tried to push herself away from him. But he held her there.

"I want you to listen to me. The Galra are not nice. Especially Zarkon. He's ruthless and gets pleasure from seeing people suffer." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "What you did was an accident. But believe me when I say that they live by their motto of Victory or Death. They mean it through every fiber of their being."

Takaki nodded.

"Hunk says he wants to talk to all of us after Lance is out of the healing pod tomorrow, so stay here and let me take care of you now."

She nodded again. "Tell me about the Earth. Tell me about our parents."

Shiro nodded as he got her to lay down next to him and began telling her stories about their parents and Earth. He smiled down at her face when he noticed she'd finally dropped off to sleep.

He smiled up at the ceiling. It was so mindboggling to him, but his sister was alive and well. He couldn't wait to get back to Earth and introduce her to Adam. He frowned. That brought up another problem. Would Adam take him back? Shiro sighed. That was another problem he'd have to face when the time arose.

The Paladins, along with Allura, gathered in front of the healing pod. Hunk stared at Lance. "I can't tell if he's healthy or not."

Takaki rolled her eyes. But the funniest she thought was Pidge, who pressed against the cover to get a better look at the Blue Paladin. Takaki covered her mouth with her hand as she giggled.

Keith reached up to open it manually. "Oh, come on!"

Allura stopped him and pushed his hand away. "Not yet! A few more ticks."

Keith glared back at her. "How much better do you think he's going to get in a few more ticks?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

Pidge turned to Allura. "And what exactly is a tick?"

"You know, a time slice."

Shiro crossed his arms over his chest. "Like a second?"

Allura cocked her head at him. "What is a second?"

Takaki leaned against the wall as the other paladins along with Allura and Coran compared seconds to ticks. She rolled her eyes, but then amusement flashed in her eyes as Shiro joined them. She couldn't help but smile at the sight.

The healing pod opened, and before she could move, Lance walked forward like a drunk person weaving across the infirmaries floor toward the group. "You guys having a clock party?"

All eyes were drawn to the Blue Paladin. Hunk gazed up at him. "Aw Lance, you ruined it!" He realized what he said and grabbed the teen up in his arms. "Lance!"

Once released, Lance gazed around him. "What happened?"

Allura placed her hand on his back. "We can tell you all about it while you get something to eat. Are you able to walk?"

Lance craned his head and gazed at her. "Talking? Eating? Are you asking me out on a date?"

Takaki giggled. Yeah, he was feeling better.

Lance got Hunk to help him to his room so he could shower and change into his regular clothes. Once finished, he and Hunk walked to the dining room.

There Coran made him sit in Allura's chair and placed a large bowl of the food goo in front of him. He dipped his spoon in it, and as he ate, the others told him what happened after the bomb went off.

Allura said, "He'd be Sendak's prisoner right now if not for Pidge and Takaki."

Pidge placed his arms on the table. "Well, you wouldn't have survived if Hunk, Zeb, and Coran hadn't gotten a new crystal."

Lance shot a look up toward Allura as he fed Platt a spoon of his goo. "Wow, thanks, everybody." He turned back around and glared at Keith, who sat on the table by Pidge. "Sounds like the mice did more than you, though."

Takaki shook her head, but she was grateful no one had mentioned her killing Haxus. Hera always seemed to know when someone needed moral support. She lowered her voice, "You did good, too, Takaki."

Takaki frowned. "Why don't I feel like it?"

"Because the events are too fresh. Give yourself some time."

Takaki barely listened to what Keith and Lance said until she heard Lance ask about Sendak. She focused back in on the conversation.

Allura frowned. "He's frozen in a cryopod. He's too dangerous to be set free."

Lance let the subject of Sendak drop. "So, what's the plan now?"

Hunk replied, "We have to get back to the Balmera and save Shay and her people."

Lance's head jerked back. "Wow, you're hung up on this lady!"

Hunk shook his head. "No. It's nothing like that. Look, guys, when you see how Zarkon has treated these people and destroyed their home, you get it. They've been under his thumb for so long they don't know what it's like to be free. It's up to us to set this right. This is what being a paladin is all about. It's time to man up."

Shiro straightened up. "Then, it's time to get moving to go defend the universe." He led the way as most everyone in the room began to follow him out.

Pidge spoke up, "Wait. I have something to say first. I need to come clean, and I'm afraid this may change the way you think about me. Just so there are no secrets between us, I'm a girl."

Lance's scream was high pitched as his eyes bugged out. "You're a girl?"

Ezra's jaw dropped. "A girl?"

Takaki giggled at their reactions.

Shiro smiled as the others confirmed that they knew she was a girl. He gazed at her. "Pidge, owning who you are is going to make you a better paladin."

Pidge sighed in relief. "Now, let's launch this Castle ship!"

Lance's jaw threatened to hit the floor as he continued to stare at Pidge. He managed to close it as he got it working again. "Pidge is a girl, and the Castle's a ship?"

Takaki walked over to Lance and wrapped her fingers around his wrist and tugged. "Let's go."

Hera smirked as she watched the pair of paladins follow the others.

Kanan gazed at her. "Care to share the secret?"

Hera gazed up at him. "Takaki's fitting in with them now."

"Yeah, she is."

Allura stepped onto the bridge and stood under the crystal. Chairs popped up around the bride. Each was color-coded. Takaki sighed since hers was located between Lance and Hunk.

Allura and Coran ran through their preflight checks, and the Castle of Lions launched into the air. Takaki studied her screen, everything looked nominal on her board.

"Ghost to the Castle of Lions, we're docking now."

It was agreed that the Ghost would ride attached to the Castle until needed as a scout ship, or if they ran into a Galra cruiser. Then it's job would be to help distract the fighters while Voltron would take out the cruiser.

The Crew of the Ghost and the Paladins of Voltron converged together to decide on a plan of action once they got to the Balmera. However, Ezra seemed to be a little more enamored with the Green Paladin than usual. He managed to hover around the teenage girl.

Takaki reached out and grabbed the teenager by his collar and pulled him back to her. "Ezra, stop hovering around Pidge."

"But, I like her."

Takaki rolled her eyes. "Once you found out she was a girl."

Ezra gazed up at her and grinned. "Well, sure, she's my age, and we're both about the same size."

"Leave her alone before I ask Kanan to give you some extra training or Hera to give you some kind of clean-up duty on the Ghost."

Chopper spun his head as he put in his own two cents and then make a sound like laughter.

Ezra glared at Chopper. "Say that again, and I'll rip your bolts out."

Shiro leaned over to Takaki. "What did Chopper say?"

"That Pidge wouldn't give him the time of day."

Shiro crossed his arms over his chest and chuckled. "Chopper's probably right."

Hunk turned and gazed at them. "So, when we get there, do we roll up and start blasting? Or do we land and have some kind of public address system, like, Attention Galras this is Voltron. Turn yourselves in?" He sighed. "No, blasting, right."

Keith held his hands out in front of him. "Hunk calm down. And blasting, yes."

Shiro smirked. "It's our first big rescue mission. He's excited."

Pidge sat on the steps in front of Hunk. She leaned back and looked at him upside down as she teased. "Excited to see his new girlfriend."

Zeb let out a laugh. "These kids are funny."

Kanan crossed his arms over his chest. "These kids are going to be in the fight of their lives. They're going to need as much help as they can get."

Sabine grinned as she tossed something tiny and metallic into the air and caught it. "My bombs are ready."

Hunk gasped as he glared at Pidge, ignoring the others. "She's not my girlfriend. She's a rock that I met, and I admire her very much."

Before anything else could be said, a new sound came over the Castle's warning system. Shiro spun around. "What is it? Are we being attacked?"

Coran shook his head. "No, it appears to be a distress beacon."

Allura brought up her holographic screen. "It's coming from a nearby moon. Apparently, a ship has lost power."

Pidge gripped her chin. "I wonder who it is."

Hunk put his hands on his hips. "Whoever it is will have to wait. Shay has first priority. We can check on them when we're done."

Allura frowned at the Yellow Paladin. "The Paladin code states that we must help anyone in need."

Hunk was definitely mad as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Zeb stepped over to the teen. "Hunk, I know you don't want to do this, but what if it was you who were stranded. You'd want someone to help you." He glanced over at the princess. He chuckled. "Besides, if you don't, she's going to beat you over the head with this Paladin code."

Takaki sighed. Oh, how she wished that she could get control over the others of the Ghost crew like Hera could. Especially Zeb. He sometimes didn't take things seriously. Although his advice to Hunk was sound but not about Allura beating the teen with the Paladin code. That's when she heard Lance starting to make a weird sound when Shiro shut him down fast.

Allura landed the Castle near the site where the distress beacon was emitting from. Allura turned to Coran. "Stay aboard and try to get as many of our systems cleared of that Galra crystal's energy."

Kanan turned to Hera and Zeb. "Why don't you two give him a hand with the Castle. We don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves."

Hera rolled her eyes. "Don't bring too much attention to yourself, Dear."

Takaki snorted as she gazed at Kanan. "Come on, we should go make mom proud."

Sabine and Ezra both burst out laughing, and a smirk pulled at Hera's mouth.

Kanan rolled his eyes. "Kids."

Shiro gazed at Takaki, and a smirk pulled at his lips. He threw his arm over her shoulder. "Let's go before you get grounded."

Takaki turned her head to gaze at him. "Grounded?"

Shiro chuckled. "That's a form of punishment for kids who do bad things. Like, fight with their siblings."

Takaki shot a look back at Kanan. "You don't think he would, do you?"

Shiro shrugged. "I don't know."

Allura, the Paladins, Kanan, Ezra, and Sabine rode the transport elevator down to the surface of the moon. A purple-skinned alien with blond hair turned to face them. "You don't know how glad we are to see some friendly faces. Most folks don't want to get tangled up with anyone who's on the run from Zarkon."

As they approached the stranded travelers, Keith asked, "So you guys are fighting the Galra?"

"Well, I don't think Zarkon is exactly quaking in his boots at the three of us, but we do what we can. I'm Rolo. This is Nyma, and our cyber-unit, Beezer."

The purple-eyed female said, "Hi."

Takaki jabbed Lance in the ribs with her elbow. "Wipe your mouth. You're drooling."

Kanan leaned over to Ezra. "See, Pidge is more obsessed with their droid. Not you."

Ezra waved a hand in the air. "She'll see me in a different light when she sees me use my lightsaber."

Takaki hissed at the teen. "Would you speak a little quieter? We don't need this universe knowing who we are. You saw the temple back on Arus. No one is there. I think the Galra wiped the Jedi out in this universe." Takaki gazed at Kanan. "Can you feel that?"

Kanan nodded. "Yes. Keep your guard up." He stared down, pointedly at Ezra. "They're being deceptive about something." He looked over at Shiro before turning his gaze back at Takaki. "You should warn your brother."

"I'll try."

Allura stepped forward. "We're happy to help. I am Princess Allura of Altea, and from now on, you won't be fighting the Galra alone. You'll have the Paladins of Voltron by your side."

Takaki slapped a hand to her face as she shook her head. Why? Why did Allura just have to say that? It was like a giant flashing sign that said, hey Zarkon, here we are.

Rolo didn't look that impressed as he said, "Okay."

Shiro turned toward Allura. "I don't think they've heard of us."

Keith frowned as he crossed his arms over his chest. "It has been ten thousand years."

Lance tried to explain what Voltron was when Hunk cut him off. "Why don't we get to work on your ship. I'm sure we all have places to be."

Rolo nodded. "Sure." He led the way to the engine compartment. "Pretty much our whole flaxum assembly is shot. I don't know what kind of extra parts you carry in this rig of yours. I've never seen anything like it."

Allura smiled back at Rolo. "I'm sure we can get you back up and running."

Takaki sighed as Lance flirted with Nyma behind the princess. She really wished they could put a leash on the Blue Paladin.

As if in answer to her wish, Shiro shoved Lance.

Allura didn't seem to notice what was going on behind her. "Give Hunk a list of what you need." She turned to the Yellow Paladin. "Coran can help you find it."

Hunk replied, "Okay."

But when Rolo suggested his people go help Hunk carry it all. Kanan stepped up to Rolo and making sure Rolo was between him and Lance he waved his hand in front of Rolo's face. "You don't need to help."

Rolo scratched at the weird helmet on his head. Then he shrugged his shoulders. "We don't have to help."

Kanan turned to Hunk. "We'll give you a hand, Hunk."

Ezra gazed up at Kanan. "I wish that worked for me."

Kanan sighed. "I wish it worked on you."

As Kanan, Hunk, and Ezra walked away from the others, Keith slid up to Takaki. "What was that?"

Takaki leaned over to Keith as she spoke softly. "That was a Jedi mind trick. The Force can allow us to implant a suggestion into the weak-minded. It doesn't always work, but I'm glad it worked on him." She sighed. "I really need to speak to Takashi."

But every time she tried to get him alone to talk to him, Rolo seemed to be there. She knew her brother was phishing for information, but her nerves were on edge.

Hunk, Kanan, and Ezra returned with a crate with the parts on the list. Hunk finally got Rolo's attention, and he walked over and opened up the container and began rummaging through the parts.

Shiro called Hunk over to him. "We're going to get going soon, but I think Rolo could have some information that might be helpful to us."

Takaki walked over to join them as Hunk frowned. "I don't trust this guy as far as I can throw him. We ought to leave him with the parts and say, Adios, Amigo."

Takaki nodded. "I agree with Hunk. I can tell you for sure that he's being deceptive about something, and I don't like it."

Rolo turned around. "Hey, bud. Sorry, but do you think you could hunt down a length of thermal pipe about yay long?" He used his hands to show the length needed.

Hunk groaned. "On the way."

Takaki groaned as Lance took Nyma into the Castle of Lions. "Lance, what are you doing?" She spoke into her helmet.

"Giving Nyma a tour of the Castle."

Takaki shook her head. "I'm telling my brother."

Lance mouthed off. "I'm telling my brother," he mimicked. "Go ahead. You're just jealous that I found a girlfriend here, and you don't have a boyfriend."

Takaki sighed. "Look, Lance. I'm not jealous, but something is off about them." She heard Nyma ask Lance to take her for a ride around the moon. And at first, he wasn't going to until she brought up Keith's name. Takaki's eyes grew. "No, Lance, don't do it!" The Blue Lion flew out of the castle and disappeared from sight.

Rolo worked on his ship but seemed unconcerned that one of his crew wasn't around. Takaki was worried about Lance. His behavior earlier to her was infuriating. Why had he argued with her? She was about to ask Keith when Rolo came out from under the ship, declared it flyable, and then he and Beezer took off, leaving the others behind.

When the pair didn't return, and Lance didn't return, Takaki approached Shiro. "Takashi, I think Lance is in trouble."

Hunk nodded. "Something ain't right."

Lance's voice came over her helmet, which she still wore. "Guys? Hello? A little help?"

Shiro grabbed his helmet and put it on. "Lance? Lance! Are you all alright? What's going on?"

"Well, I'm kind of chained to a tree."

Hunk said, "I knew it!"

"And I think Nyma and Rolo stole the Blue Lion."

Hunk glared at Shiro. "I knew it!"

Shiro ignored Hunk. "Where are they?"

"Uh, space?"

Takaki placed her hand on Hunk's shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, I didn't trust them either. I also tried to warn my brother." She added her own glare to Hunks.

Shiro turned toward the Castle. "Let's get to the lions and get the Blue Lion back."

The lions roared as they flew out of the Castle. Shiro said, "Pidge scan for the Blue Lon."

"On it," she replied. A few minutes later, she said, "I got it. Sending you the coordinates."

It didn't take the lions long to get into visual range of Rolo's ship. The ship ducked into an asteroid field. The lions stopped. Pidge said, "We'll never through this."

Hunk tired, ramming his lion through it. But the asteroid the Yellow Lion hit only bounced of others and back into their path. "Nope. That was a bad idea."

Shiro said, "Keith, you're the only one who can fly through this. We need you, buddy. Get in there and flush him out."

Keith replied. "You got it. See you on the other side."

Keith appeared from the asteroid field. The Red Lion carried Rolo's ship in its claws. He set it down on a more massive asteroid near the field. He said, "Yeah!" as he chuckled. "Hey, Lance, I got your lion back."

Lance replied, "Thank you, Keith. Now can you come and unchain me?"

Takaki could practically see Keith's grin that was in his voice. "What's that? I, uh- You're cutting out. I can't-I can't hear you."

Lance replied, "Oh, come on. I thought we bonded."

Takaki sighed. "I'll go get him."

Allura and the Paladins faced Rolo and Nyma. Keith glared at them. "Since your ship really doesn't work now, you'll have to wait for a rescue."

Rolo gazed up at the Red Paladin. "Thank you for sparing our lives."

Hunk was ready to get to the Balmera to save Shay and her family. Takaki frowned. It was probably a mistake to say as much in front of Rolo and Nyma.


	4. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They have to save the Balmera and Balmerans then they receive a distress call from a planet in need of help.

Allura gazed at the gathered paladins and Ghost crew. "We'll be arriving at the Balmera soon. Liberating the Balmerans from Zarkon's grasp won't be easy."

Lance looked a bit bored. "So, what's the plan?" He quickly came to life as he threw his arms out. "We go in there – pow, pow, pow?" He placed his hand on his hip. "And free the prisoners?"

Keith walked up to Lance and frowned as he placed his opposite hand on his hip. "What was that noise?"

Lance smirked at Keith. "Laser guns."

Hunk looked at the pair of paladins. "No, Lance, I think you mean—" he brought his arms up and imitated the sound of a laser cannon firing.

Lance shook his head. "That sounds like fireworks."

Takaki cocked her head and stared at the paladins. What in the heck were they doing?

Pidge straight-faced added to the conversation. "Technically, they're more like ba-choo, ba-choo, ba-choo."

Shiro craned his head to look at the teens on his team. "Okay, enough with the bad sound effects." Shiro dropped to one knew and held his arms out straight from his body and grasping his hands as if holding a gun. "Besides, it's more like— blam, blam, blam."

Takaki cocked her head and gazed at the other paladins. "What are sound effects?"

The four teens turned toward her, and Lance gaped at her. "You don't know what a sound effect is? It's what they use in movies and TV shows to make certain sounds that wouldn't normally be heard by everyday people."

Takaki shrugged. "I've never heard of a movie or a TV show."

Lance placed his hands on his hips as he stared back at her. "I guess you never heard of the internet either."

Takaki shrugged again. "We don't have the internet, but we have the holonet. It used to be free, but now it's controlled by the Empire filled with Emperor Palpatine's propaganda." Her upper lip curled as she grimaced, and a bitter taste came to her mouth.

Allura sighed. "Paladins, focus."

Hunk stared at the image of the Balmera on the main screen. "We can't shoot at the Galra. This Balmera is alive. And from what we've seen, it doesn't look good."

Coran's voice sounded sad as he spoke. "Yes, it's an atrocity what the Galra are doing to this magnificent beast. Stealing its crystals, it's life force without ever performing the energy rejuvenation ceremonies to heal it."

Hunk's eyebrows furrowed as he drew his hands up in fists that began to tighten. "After seeing Shay's people enslaved, it made me realize how bad Zarkon is. And we're the only ones who can stop him."

Shiro began formulating a plan. "Okay, so we can't go into the tunnels with guns blazing. Plan B. We figure out how to draw the Galra up to the surface and battle them out there."

Hunk threw his arms up in the air as if he'd had an epiphany. "Wait, I know! If we attack all their big mining stuff on the surface, the Galra will have to come out to defend it."

Hera stepped forward. "The Ghost can act as a decoy drawing some of the fighters away where Allura and Coran can destroy them from orbit."

Keith crossed his arms over his chest as he frowned. "How will we know how many Galra are left in the tunnels?"

Allura brought up the image of a device on her holographic screen. "We can track the Galra and the Balmerans using Biothermal Life Indicator Point Technology."

Pidge leaned forward, gazing at the hologram of the device. "Oh, BLIP tech!" She gazed up at Allura. "It's an acronym."

Allura took a breath and then released it. "One of you will need to fly around the Balmera and drop sensors into the shafts on each side. Then we will be able to see where the Galra and the Balmerians are. There are sensors built into your suits."

Pidge smiled. "I can do it. I modified the Green Lion with the invisible mazes' cloaking ability. I should be able to fly around unnoticed."

Coran brought up an image of something immense on the screen. "That's their main power generator. Take that out, and it will severely weaken their defenses."

Allura replied, "We'll stay in cloud cover and give tactical support and take down any fighters that the Ghost brings toward us."

Shiro nodded. "I'll take out the power generator. Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Takaki take out these big mining rigs around the area."

Hunk jumped up in the air. "Yeah! Let's do this! Let's go kick some alien butt!"

The Lion's launched from the Castle and flew toward their destinations. The Galra defenses began firing at them. Shiro said, "This is it, get your heads in the game. Remember, the Balmera is a living creature. Make sure you pinpoint only the Galra installations and not it's surface."

Pidge said, "Initiating cloak."

Takaki, Hunk, Lance, and Keith began attacking the mining rigs while Shiro and the Black Lion destroyed the big power generator, stopping some of the defenses from firing at them.

Keith's voice came through Takaki's helmet. "Woah! Did you guys just see that? I got firepower!" His jubilation was short-lived, though, as his target began to fall toward the Balmera.

The Yellow Lion appeared to stop it from falling onto the Balmera's surface. Takaki dove for the underside of the giant defense tower and added her lion's strength to Hunk's.

Lance said, "I think my lion knows what to do. Aw, snap! These rays are super cool, just like me!"

Takaki rolled her eyes. Boy, he sure reminded her of Ezra when the young Jedi in training got all cocky like that. She moved the White Lion out of the way of freezing ice rays.

The lions landed on top of the frozen tower. Shiro said, "Great job, team!"

Keith asked, "Where are all the troops? They're not coming to the surface."

Hunk replied, "Yeah, I remember seeing a lot of Galra guys in the tunnels."

Allura said, "We've located a hangar full of Galra fighters below the surface. Someone has to take them out before they can launch."

Shiro replied, "They're luring us down. We don't have a choice. Keith, Lance, you guys hit the hangar. Hunk, Takaki, head to the prison and rescue Shay and the other Balmerans. Pidge and I will track down the Galra soldiers."

As the other Paladins replied to Shiro Takaki added in her own, "Roger," to the replies. She took off to follow the Yellow Lion.

Takaki followed Hunk in the White Lion's speeder. She heard Hunk's voice. "Allura, Coran, what's my location? All these tunnels look the same. I can't remember where the prison is."

Takaki groaned. Were they now lost inside a living creature? She glanced around her as she couldn't help the sudden chill that hit her. She muttered, "I feel like a sitting Mynock down here." At least it wasn't some kind of giant space slug that liked to hide in asteroids and eat unwary travelers who landed for both safety and repairs.

Coran replied, "You're on the correct path. Turn right at the next tunnel. Once you get there, you'll have to disable the energy doors. Be careful. It looks like it's heavily guarded."

As soon as Hunk and Takaki came in range of the doors, two Galra Sentries on top of a ledge above the doors began firing down on them. They brought their speeders to a stop, and Hunk brought up his bayard and shot them down. He picked up the piece of an arm. He frowned as he gazed at her. "That was way too easy. I don't have a good feeling about this."

"I don't either, but let's get the Balmerans out."

Hunk held the hand to the pad and activated the locking mechanism. He and Takaki ran inside the prison, avoiding a patrol. Hunk ran to one of the cells and unlocked the door. A small group of Balmerans was inside.

They stood, and one of them gazed at the Yellow Paladin. "Hunk, you have returned. Hunk gripped the male's hand. "I promised I'd be back. We're here to help. Where's Shay?"

A younger male Balmeran sat back in the corner alone. "Our life may not have been perfect, but our family was whole. Your arrival has left us imprisoned ad torn apart. As soon as your attack started, they took her away to the core of the Balmera. For all, we know she could be gone for good."

Takaki turned her eyes on him. "You're being unfair. When Hunk returned, all he wanted to do was return here to help not only Shay but all Balmerans to be free. Events slowed our progress in getting here. But don't you dare put the blame for what's happened on Hunk." She gazed at the Balmeran and then knew what it was she'd been feeling. "Especially since you're dealing with your own guilt."

She turned to Hunk and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Come on. We might be able to catch up to them."

Hunk nodded as a new resolve shown in his eyes. "Your right. Let's go."

Allura's voice came over their helmets, "Paladins, are you there? The Galra are moving down the tunnels. It looks like they're going down toward the center."

Hunk replied, "They must be headed to the core. That's where they're holding Shay."

Shiro replied, "They're drawing us into an ambush, but we don't have a choice if we want to save Shay. We have to follow. Lance, Keith, get to the core. I think we're going to need everyone together to get through this firefight."

Pidge's voice came over Takaki's helmet. "Hey, team, be careful! The Balmera is very unstable!"

Takaki avoided another piece of falling rock. "Thanks, Pidge."

Hunk turned to Takaki as a moaning noise coming from nearby. "What's that?"

"It's the Balmera. It's in pain."

They ran into the core to find Shay hanging in front of what Takaki could equate it to either the Balmera's heart or brain. Hunk shot the bonds holding her to the ceiling. Using his jet pack, he caught her before she hit the ground.

Shiro entered the room. "Where are the Galra? If this is an ambush, they should be waiting for us."

As the others entered, the doors slammed shut behind them. Hunk glanced up at him. "It looks like it's a trap and not an ambush."

Shay ripped the mask off her face and took a breath. "The Galra gained knowledge that you would return. But they set this trap for you. I was the bait."

Shiro gazed at the others. "Who could have known that we were here to save Shay?"

Hunk turned toward Shiro. "Rolo."

Takaki sighed. Yep, Rolo and Nyma sold us out to the Galra to save their skins.

Shiro gazed around the room. "We have to figure out how to get out of here."

Lance turned to Takaki. "You're the space ninja. Can't you use some of those skills of yours to get us out?"

Takaki rolled her eyes. "For the last time, Lance. I'm not a Ninja. I'm a Jedi. And I think I have an idea, but it'll take time to cut through the doors."

Shay gazed at them. "Perhaps my people can help." She placed her hand on the structure that could be the heart or brain of the beast. "This is how we communicate. The Balmera senses our vibrations and sends a message to those in the tunnels."

Keith asked, "Are you sure someone will be able to hear your, uh, hand?"

Shay nodded. "The Balmera will deliver the message."

Takaki knew Shay had faith in this mode of communication, but sometimes the only way to get help was to do the work yourself. She pulled her lightsaber from her holster and started to walk toward one of the doors. Shiro placed his hand on her shoulder. "Wait. Let's give Shay some time."

Allura's voice came over the paladin's helmet coms, "Paladins, the lions are in danger! You must get back to them immediately! Paladins, do you copy? There's a battle cruiser locked on to us, and Hera is doing what she can to thin out the fighters. Paladins?"

Lance replied, "We're trying Allura, we copy."

Shiro asked, "Shay, are you sure the Balmera is sending your message?"

In answer to his question, one of the doors was crushed, and it fell open to reveal four other Balmerans.

Shay turned around and cried out in joy, "Rax!"

Rax gazed at the Paladins. "We must make haste. We know a shortcut through the tunnels."

Shiro said, "Allura stand by. We're on our way up."

Takaki snarled as she glared at the Galra fighters trying to steal the White Lion. She pushed the speeder forward as a section of the particle barrier opened, allowing the speeder entry. The White Lion roared as it crushed both of the fighters and flew out of the shaft.

Shiro asked, "Guys, did everyone make it to their lions in time?"

Lance said, "Come on, Shiro. Who do you think you're dealing with, a bunch of amateurs?" He yelped as he flew the Blue Lion into a deactivated Galra defense tower.

Takaki heard the amusement in Shiro's voice. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

Lance replied. "No."

Takaki spotted the Ghost with several fighters on its tail. The other lions attacked the fighters blocking their path to the Galra Battlecruiser. Takaki turned the White Lion around and raced after the fighters. She brought up the tail laser and took out three of the fighters while the last two were taken down by the Ghost.

Pidge used the Green Lion to cover Hunk while Shiro used the Black Lion's jaw blade to rip through some Galra fighters. Lance and Keith were using their lions to freeze and melt other fighters.

Allura's voice came through Takaki's helmet as a klaxon blared in the background. "Paladins! I need you immediately! Five more ticks, and we're finished!"

They formed Voltron. The giant mechanical warrior flew up out of the clouds and raised the Battle Cruiser up. A white beam of energy came from the Castle of Lions and struck the cruiser as it shot through the ship. Voltron moved out of the way, and it exploded in a bright display of colors.

Takaki heard Sabine from the Ghost. "That rivals some of the colors from some of my explosions." It brought a smile to Takaki's face.

Takaki laughed. "Well, you're famous with the bucket heads for the artistic display of your distractions."

Sabine sighed. "The Empire's bucket heads don't appreciate my art."

Voltron landed on the Balmeran's surface when something entered the atmosphere and landed several clicks away for them. It looked like some weird giant coffin.

Pidge recognized the shape. "Oh, no!"

Hunk said, "Please tell me there's not a giant monster in there! Please tell me it's empty or full of space candy! One of those two."

Lance frowned to the Yellow Paladin's freaking out. "I don't think it's a giant pinata, Hunk."

Keith replied, "If that's the same kind of monster we fought on Arus, then we know how to defeat it." He activated the sword while Pidge activated the shield.

Shiro said, "Hold your ground!"

The coffin-like container opened, and what was inside was like nothing Takaki had ever seen. It was something out of a nightmare. Tall and skinny with two long arms that nearly touched the ground. Circles were on the underside of those arms, and long teeth jutted out from its lower jaw. Two shining green circles were on its head as eyes, and a large circle on its chest began to glow as it appeared to power up. It fired a green beam of energy that struck the shield and pushed Voltron backward.

Hunk yelled, "It's not candy!"

Takaki heard the fear in Hunk's voice and the stress in Lance's as he replied to the Yellow Paladin. "And it's not the same monster!"

Shiro replied, "We need to draw it's fire away from the surface of the Balmera!"

It continued pressing its attack on the mechanical warrior. Takaki knew what she could do, but with the monster shooting that stream of energy at them, there was no way she could use the White Lion's weapon. She ground her teeth together, and to make matters worse, the pain she felt from the Balmera was intensifying.

Lance yelled, "We can't hold out!"

Pidge added, "My lion's weakening! If the shied sustains structural damage, we're done for!"

Voltron was knocked backward, and it fell crashing to the ground. Shiro said, "Team Voltron, disband!" The lions broke apart. "Evasive maneuvers! It can't shoot us all at once!"

The monster spread it's arms out, and beams of energy came out of each circle. Shiro frowned. "Okay, it can do that too."

A beam of energy struck the beast from behind. It came from the Castle of Lions. The creature turned around and fired back at the Castle.

Shiro said, "Keith, try to draw its fire! I'm coming in from above!"

Keith replied, "Roger!" The Red Lion flew toward the midsection of the creature. The Red Lion hit it with one of its Lava blasts.

Shiro dove the Black Lion down at the beast, but one of its eyes on its head came around to the back and glowed. It fired a beam of green energy at the lion. Shiro had to pull his lion up to avoid being hit by it.

Lance said, "We need to find its blind spot!"

Pidge replied, "I don't think it has a blind spot. It has a thousand eyes. It's like fighting an entire fleet at once!"

Keith said, "I think we gotta aim for those laser eyes and take them out!"

Allura added from the Castle of Lions. "We'll cover you from up here." To suit words to action, the Castle began firing on the creature. But that only drew fire from the beast onto the Castle. "We're taking heavy fire up here! We're in trouble!"

Shiro replied, "Princess, pull back! Get out of its range now!"

"We won't abandon you!"

"You're not abandoning us. We're about to pull back anyway. We can't hold out. Lions to the mine shafts. It's the only place the monster can't get to us."

"Pidge replied, "Roger that," as she banked her lion away to follow the Blue Lion.

The Black, Red, Yellow, and White Lions flew down another shaft and landed at the bottom. The Paladins left their lions only to find themselves being met by Shay and her family.

Rax gazed at them. "What is happening?"

Keith sighed as he fixed his gaze on the Balmeran. "There's a monster up there that Zarkon sent to destroy us."

Shay frowned as sadness filled her voice. "A monster? Will Zarkon's savagery never abate? Perhaps our people were never meant to be free."

Hunk gazed at her. "Shay, don't give up. Zarkon's power grows with every planet he conquers, but he's weakened by every being that fights back."

"Fight back against a monster like that? How?"

Takaki, who stood next to Shiro, knew that Shay had her doubts. "It can be done." She placed her hand on Shiro's shoulder. "Look at my brother. He was Zarkon's prisoner, but he escaped. Now, look at him. He leads Voltron now in this fight, so don't lose hope. We can and will beat it."

Keith turned his head. "We can?"

Shiro nodded. "Yes, we can. This is our first mission, and we're not going to fail. We need to come up with a plan."

Takaki turned away from the others, the pain was intensifying for her as the colossal beast moaned again. Being this close to it was hurting her as pain shot through her very being. She took a breath and began to whisper to herself, I'm one with the Force, and the Force is with me."

The ground beneath them began to shake. The moaning sound echoed through the tunnel.

Rax gazed at the Paladins as he frowned. "The Balmera is dying."

Takaki nodded as she dropped to the ground. Her breath was shaky that she sucked in. "I can feel it."

Shiro dropped to the ground in front of her as he gripped her shoulders. "You said once before that you felt others die before. Is this similar?"

She shook her head. "No, this is different but also similar." She ripped off her helmet as she gripped the temples of her head. "I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me." A tear slipped out of her eye and raced down her face.

Keith knelt beside them. "What's wrong with her?"

Shiro gazed at the Red Paladin. "This Force that she talks about, through it, she can feel the Balmera's pain. She's felt others die before, and I'm guessing it nearly drove her mad then. It's hurting her now." He stood up, "Coran, Allura, are you there?"

Allura replied, "We're here."

Shiro said, "The Balmera—"

Coran cut him off. "We already know. Our scanners are showing the life energy draining from the poor beast."

Pidge asked, "How does that happen?"

Coran replied, "Removing crystals from a Balmera is like removing a vital part from its body. The Balmera needs to regenerate to stay healthy, but the Galra's greed may have cost this noble Balmera its life."

Hunk asked, "So what's going to happen?"

"It's core will collapse, destabilizing its entire skeletal structure. Anything or anyone remaining on the Balmera at that point will be crushed into dust."

Shiro asked as he gazed down at Takaki, who was still chanting to herself, "How long before the core collapses?"

"Probably a matter of hours. The mighty organism gives itself to all, but not all repay its kindness."

Allura replied, "Then our time is short. We'll evacuate the planet. We need to get all the Balmerans to the Castle of Lions before the planet implodes."

Pidge said, "You'll need a distraction."

Shiro replied, "We'll engage the beast in out lions. With it distracted, Coran and Allura will land the Castle and load all of its citizens. We'll provoke and evade."

Hunk said, "Okay, here's the thing. I'm worried we're going to be really good at the provoking part, and really bad on the evading part. But if this is what it takes to save Shay and her people, then I'm in."

Keith, who still knelt next to Takaki and supported her as she continued to chant, gazed up at Shay. "Can you contact the other Balmerans?"

Shay nodded. "I can, but I know not what they will say. Leave the planet? Our home?"

Allura replied, "It's the only option. I'm coming down."

Shiro glanced down at Takaki. "Okay, team, let's go." He reached down to help her stand, and Keith picked up her discarded helmet passing it over to his leader. "Can you do this?"

Takaki took a breath and then shrugged as she replaced the helmet on her head. "I don't know, but I've got to try. Without me, you can't form Voltron."

Shiro nodded. "Okay, let's go."

Shiro, along with Keith, Hunk, and Takaki, flew past the monster getting its attention. It started firing at the lions.

As it chased after them, Hunk said, "Okay, we've provoked. Time to evade."

Shiro said, "Princess, we've lured the monster away."

Allura replied, "I'll contact you all when I'm on the ground."

The monster turned as it saw Allura using a personal transport. Hunk yelled as he slammed the Yellow Lion into the beast. "We gotta protect the Princess!"

Shiro used the Black Lion to leap on the creatures back and then jumped away.

Lance paused the Blue Lion in front of the beast long enough to shoot it in the face with his lion's ice ray. He turned his lion and flew away.

Allura said, "I'm on the ground."

Shiro replied, "Hurry! I don't know how long we can hold this thing off."

Takaki and Keith avoided the arm laser's blasts. Coran's voice came over their helmets, "Paladins, how are you holding up?"

Keith replied, "I think we got him pretty distracted. Are the Balmerans in position?"

Takaki sighed. "Why do these creatures always have to be him? I'd prefer to call it an it." She groaned as her lion shook from a shot from one of the laser eyes.

Allura replied, "They're making their way to the top."

The creature chased after them, but it's arm lasers were hitting the surface. Hunk yelled, "Every hit weakens the Balmera. Have you evacuated yet? What's happening?"

A great sigh came from Coran. "The Balmerans are trapped. Just keep distracting that beast!"

Takaki rolled her eyes. "Keep distracting it? What do you think we're doing? Playing hide and seek?" Sarcasm colored her voice.

Shiro said, "Guys, remember when I said we didn't have to beat it?"

Hunk replied, "Yes, I remember."

"Well, we might have to beat it."

The Lions flew across the surface of the Balmera. Takaki sensed something different. The Balmera wasn't as weak as before. Somehow a small part of it had healed. She didn't have time to find out how this happened. She was grateful that it had.

Keith said, "Guys, this isn't working. We'll never take the beast down in our lions."

Pidge replied, "Well, forming Voltron didn't work, either."

Lance said, "Not without some way to shoot all those laser eyes at once."

Hunk yelled, "Guys! Guys, something's happening here. I-I think there's a way to take down all those eyes at once."

Pidge asked, "What is it?"

"Do you remember how Voltron formed a sword with Keith's bayard? I think my lion's telling me I can do the same thing with my bayard."

Keith asked, "Are you sure?"

"Let's find out. Form thingy! It didn't work!"

Shiro replied, "Because we didn't form Voltron yet."

Hunk said, "Oh, right. Yeah, I know."

The beast locked on the Castle of Lions, sitting on the ground. The Princess and Shay's family were underneath the great ship performing the rejuvenation ceremony.

Shiro said, "We've got to defend the Castle! Everyone follow me. Form Voltron!" The lions flew up to a higher altitude in formation and formed the giant mechanical warrior.

Hunk used his bayard, and all the arm laser eyes were targeted. A giant cannon appeared on Voltron's shoulder. As it fired, individual beams struck multiple eyes on the arms at once, destroying them. The beast stood there, hunched over as its arms sparked and smoked.

A bright light came from under the Castle and spread across the surface of the Balmera. Shiro said, "Guys, look."

Takaki smiled and leaned back in the seat inside the cockpit of her lion. "The Balmera, it's healing."

The beast roared and stood up. It fired its chest laser at Voltron.

The giant warrior jumped out of the way and flew and banked around. Keith pushed his controls forward, and the right arm shot out and punched the creature in the chest, sending it crashing to the ground.

The lions disbanded, and the paladins exited their lions and ran forward as the princess collapsed. A noise came from behind them as the beast stood up again. It began charging its chest weapon when crystals sprouted up out of the ground around its feet and climbed up its legs. A piece of crystal thrust out of the chest as the crystal fully encased the beast.

Hunk whispered, "No way!"

Coran gazed over at the princess. "The Balmera just saved us."

Allura gazed down at the ground. "Look at the crystals." Crystals began sprouting up from the ground.

Takaki smiled as she pulled her helmet off, threw it up in the air, and caught it.

Hunk was down on the ground rubbing his gloved fingers across the Balmera's surface. "Oh, who's a good Balmera? You are. Who ate the big scary monster? You did. Yes, you did."

Keith crossed his arms over his chest. "Dude, what are you doing?"

Hunk continued to rub his hands over the ground. "What? It's alive, and it wuv's my scwatches."

Shiro cocked his eyebrow and rolled his eyes at the Yellow Paladin. He turned to gaze at Takaki and the massive smile on her face. "Feeling better?"

Takaki nodded. "Yes. It's good to be able to not experience another death, but instead the rebirth of life."

Shiro threw his arm over her shoulders. "I bet it is."

As the Castle of Lions rose into the sky, the Ghost came down from orbit and docked with the great ship. Ezra walked into the lounge where the Paladins sat resting from the day's exertions. "That was some fight. I never see anything like that thing before."

Takaki gazed up at the Jedi in training. "Us, either." She frowned as she glanced down at the floor.

Shiro saw her expression. "What's wrong?"

She raised her eyes and gazed at Takashi's face. "I-I can't explain it, but something is going to happen."

Lance sat up. "Is this your space ninja spidey sense telling you this?"

Pidge gazed at Lance as she propped her arm on her leg and her chin on her fist and spoke deadpan at him. "Thank you, Lance, for reaffirming my faith in your insanity."

Lance spluttered. "She brought it up!"

Takaki pulled out of her pocket a gold cube with intricate carving and a crystal inside it. She set it down on the floor in front of her. "This is a Jedi Holocron. Only someone who is Force-sensitive will be able to open it. Each person takes a turn. If you open it. I'll see about training you."

Pidge picked up the cube and gazed at it. "I don't see any way to open it."

Ezra grinned as he sat down on one of the couches. "You can't open it with your hands. You can only open it with your mind."

Pidge started to put it back down. "Well, that lets me out."

Lance snatched it out of her hand. He gazed at Ezra. "I don't believe you." He stuck his tongue out of his mouth as he tried twisting it one way and then another. He groaned as he tried to apply more pressure to it. But it still wouldn't open. He sighed as he tossed it to the floor. "That thing hates me."

Hunk craned his head. "It doesn't hate you, Lance. You're just trying to force it, and you can't force it." He pointed at one of the corners. "See, there's a seam there, so it will open." He shook his head. "But this isn't for me. I know it to be true. Because I'm more hands-on." He leaned back on the couch.

Shiro shook his head. "I've said I didn't want to be trained. I'm sure I could open it, but I'm not ready to think about it."

Keith gazed at the cube and closed his eyes. He saw the cube in his mind. He envisioned opening a corner.

Lance gasped as a corner flipped open, followed by another.

Hunk grinned.

Pidge shook her head. This was beyond the realm of possibility. Robots and science she understood but this?

Shiro gasped as the cube now broke into pieces that floated in the air revealing the crystal that floated free in the center.

An image of a man was projected out of the crystal. He had short hair and a beard. He wore a long-sleeved brown robe with a hood that lay flat on his back.

"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen, with the dark shadow of the Empire to take their place. This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi. Trust in the Force. Do not return to the Temple. That time has passed, and our future is uncertain. We will each be challenged along with our trust, our faith, and our friendships. But we must persevere. And in time, a new hope will emerge. May the Force be with you, always."

Lance jumped up from his seat on the couch. "Keith? A space ninja. I don't believe it!"

Shiro glared at Lance. His gaze said everything telling Lance to sit back down.

Lance did sit, but he crossed his arms over his chest as he glared at Keith.

The crystal and the cube collapsed to the ground. Keith gazed at Takaki. "How did I do that?"

"You did it with the Force. No one else either wanted or could manage to open it." She gazed at the Holocron and closed her eyes holding out her hand. The cube reformed itself around the crystal. Then it rose from the floor and landed in her hand. "A Jedi Holocron has information on it. Old star maps from the Republic along with locations of other temples, plus some information on lightsaber training and fighting techniques. If you'd like to learn."

Keith opened his mouth but was cut off by a sound that they'd heard before. It was similar to the sound of the distress beacon. The Paladins and Ezra jumped up off the couches in the lounge and took off running for the bridge.

The doors opened to the bridge, and they ran on. Shiro looked at Coran, "What's going on?"

Hunk frowned. "It better not be another trick from that liar, Rolo. If it is, we just bypass him and don't look back."

Pidge nodded. "Yeah."

Coran turned. "I've just finished speaking with the leader of the Djin from the planet Djiikal. Every fifty or so of your Earth years, their planet goes through an upheaval where they experience a natural disaster a month. However, something has gone wrong this year, instead of a disaster and then so many days to recover before the next one theses are coming too soon. They've had earthquakes and volcanoes. Now they're expecting heavy rain. To make matters worse, the transport that they use to travel from this zone to another has been destroyed. They need help, and a dam above their city is threatening to break."

Shiro gazed at Coran. "How many people are we talking about here?"

"About fifty thousand, but they're a little taller than the Arusians. We could possibly fit them all in the Castle of Lions, but I think we'll need the help of the Ghost to get that many as quickly as possible."

Shiro nodded. "Okay, sounds like a plan. Hunk, Keith, Lance, and Pidge come with me. We'll go check out the dam and see if we can either shore it up or create some channels to pull any floodwaters away from the city. Takaki, go with the Ghost and help get those people evacuated."

Takaki nodded. "Right."

As Takaki boarded the Ghost with the others, she wore her armor. Kanan turned to her, "Why would he send you with us? He might need you."

Takaki shrugged. "I don't know, but Lance is upset right now."

Ezra chuckled. "Yeah, Keith is Force-sensitive, and Lance isn't."

Hera's voice called out from the cockpit. "You all should take a seat. We're getting ready to separate from the Castle."

Kanan and Ezra made their way to the cockpit while Sabine, Takaki, and Zeb took a seat around the holo game table. Sabine gazed at her. "I'm kind of jealous because of that armor."

Zeb frowned. "Why? It makes her look like a bucket head, and I'd rather punch bucket heads."

Takaki chuckled. "Well, it's not quite a bucket heads armor. You can't see their faces."

Zeb let out a laugh. "That's true."

The Ghost detached from the Castle and headed down to the planet. As they neared the city, Takaki had an image of Keith and Shiro. But it wasn't clear. But they both seemed to kneel over something.

It didn't take long for the Ghost to land near the city. Small brown and yellow banded people rushed forward toward the ship. As they raced ahead, Zeb began walking down the ramp. The people suddenly stopped and started moving back from the ramp.

Takaki gazed at Ezra. "You're non-threatening looking. Go down there and start loading people on board."

Takaki followed Ezra down but stopped halfway down the ramp. Ezra began loading the people when one stopped and faced Takaki. A female. The Djin grasped her by the arm. Her voice was sort of an electronic sounding buzz. "Please, my children are missing."

Takaki gazed at the short yet thin non-threatening Djin. "Where did you see them last?"

She pointed over toward a towering canyon. "They were playing by the mouth of the canyon. I've told them many times not to play there that it's dangerous, but they refuse to listen."

Takaki nodded as she gazed down at Ezra. She placed her hand on the Djin's forearm. "I'll look for them." She turned and raced up the ramp to the cargo hold. She saw Kanan there. "Kanan, I need one of the speeder bikes."

Kanan gazed up at her. "Why?"

"One of the Djin's children disappeared around the canyon. I need to go look for them."

Kanan nodded. "Okay, but take someone with you."

Sabine picked up her helmet. "I'll go with you."

Both grabbed the pair of speeder bikes they'd stolen from stormtroopers and deactivated the tracking devices. They walked them down the ramp and away from the Djin, who were now racing for the Castle that had landed.

Thunder crashed as lightning arced across the sky, and big fat drops of rain were beginning to fall. Takaki gazed at Sabine. "I hope we find them before the clouds open up and the deluge starts."

Sabine nodded as she spoke from behind her Mandalorian helmet. "Yeah."

They both climbed onto the speeders and took off racing for the canyon. They'd traveled nearly a mile when they found that the canyon split.

Sabine pointed at the right fork. "I'll go this way."

Takaki gazed up at the dam in the distance and saw the lions working around it. "Okay. If you find them call out."

Sabine waved as she turned to go up the right fork.

Takaki continued up the canyon as a small trickle of water began running down the canyon floor beside her. Takaki traveled about another mile or so down the canyon and would have passed the children up if she hadn't heard them crying. They hid under a small ledge that jutted out of the canyon wall.

She parked the speeder and hopped off. She dropped down to her hands and knees and gazed under the shelf to find six children huddled together. She closed her eyelids and projected calm to the children and opened her eyelids again to find one of them no longer crying but now staring at her. Her voice was gentle as she spoke. "Hi, I'm Takaki, your mom sent me to find you."

The child staring at her spoke in its electronic sounding buzzing voice. "Really?"

Takaki nodded. "Have you head of Voltron?"

Another child nodded. "Yes. We saw the lions, and we tried to follow, but the rain started."

More lightning flashed across the sky, and thunder crashed, causing the smallest child to scream in terror as it grasped onto one of its siblings. Takaki couldn't tell if they were all female or male. They all appeared the same. Takaki continued to project calm toward them. The smallest terrified one seemed to be no longer shaking. "I'm going to call for help, okay, and then we'll get you out of here."

She stood and pulled out her communicator as the rain came down even harder. "Specter four to Specter one. I've found the kids, but there's too many carry on my speeder."

"Where's Sabine?"

Takaki closed her eyes. She knew he'd be mad when she told him, but sometimes hard choices had to be made. "There was a fork in the road, so we split up."

She heard his sigh. "Okay, I'll bring the Phantom."

Shiro and the lions worked hard to fix the damage to the dam. He craned his head to gaze at the city to see if the population of the city was evacuated yet. What he didn't expect to see was the Phantom sitting on the edge of the canyon and a small Djin child being lifted up on a rope.

He switched his communication frequency over to the small ships. He saw Kanan and another person, possibly the Mandalorian girl on the ramp that hung over the side of the canyon wall. "Kanan? What's going on?"

He saw Kanan step inside the ship. "Apparently, some kids were mischievous and decided to try to get a close up look of the lions."

Shiro's nerves began to hum and not in a pleasant way. "Who's on the ground?"

"Takaki. I picked up Sabine, who was also out searching for the kids."

Shiro opened his mouth to speak when the dam groaned. He gazed at the structure. Even he could tell that it wouldn't be much longer before it gave way. "How many more to pick up?"

"Two"

"You better make it fast. This dam is gonna go any second."

"Roger that."

Takaki silently cursed her luck for the umpteenth time. This part of the canyon was narrow, too narrow for the Phantom to land. So they'd been forced to rig up a rope system to get the kids out of the canyon. She spared a glance down at the ground. The once small trickle was now the size of a small brook. The kids were mostly still dry, but the water was now rushing around her booted feet.

She reached out and grabbed the rope with the safety harness attached, and picked up the last child. Takaki got him, this one was definitely male and hooked him in the harness. She waved upward, and the child rose up in the air. He was having fun.

The rain began to come down in sheets so hard she could barely see anything in front of her as the wind blew the rain into her face. She closed the bottom part of her helmet as thunder clapped so close to her that she was deafened from the noise. Her ears rang. But she never heard the shouts from the Paladins as the dam broke from above, and tons of water roared down the canyon.

As her ears began to clear, she heard her name being called as something roaring raced toward her. She turned as she was hit by a wall of water. It knocked her off her feet and slammed the speeder into her, hitting just under the helmet and knocking it off her head. She managed to tread water as the current sucked her toward the city. Pieces of the dam were carried along, and some debris slammed against her body. One hit her in the head as she fought to stay above water. Black appeared around the edges of her vision, and everything faded to black.

Shiro heard Kanan yelling something unintelligible. "Kanan, what's going on?"

"Takaki didn't hear me and was swept away by the water. I'm trying to follow her, but I can't see her anymore."

Shiro's stomach dropped as his shoulders curved forward. His human hand trembled on the control stick. He closed his eyelids for a moment and then opened them. He switched over to the lion's frequency. "Keith, I need you to search the canyon for Takaki. She was rescuing some Djin children and was hit the water from the dam."

Both the Castle of Lions and the Ghost lifted up from the planet's surface as the water hit the city.

Coran's voice came from Shiro's helmet as the Altean spoke to the Red Paladin. "Keith, I've located her. She's down around the mouth of the canyon. I'm sending you her location."

Keith replied, "Thanks, Coran." The Red Lion shot forward as the Red Paladin flew down the canyon. He saw the armor first, and landed, and flew out of his seat and ran down the ramp. One look was all it took to see she wasn't breathing. "Shiro, you need to get down here."

Keith removed Takaki's chest armor, exposing the black flight suit underneath. He pressed a hand to her neck, feeling for a pulse. It was there but slow and seemed to get slower. He checked to make sure her airway was clear. "Shiro, you need to get down here."

Coran's voice came over Shiro's helmet again. "Shiro, I think I've discovered the reason for all this upheaval. I've spotted what looks like a small Galra base not far from the city."

Shiro frowned. He couldn't be in two places at once. He was going to have to split up the team again. "Lance, take Pidge and Hunk, and take out that base. I'll join you as soon as I can."

Lance replied, "Roger that!" Then he whooped very loud.

Shiro shook his head but turned the Black Lion toward Keith's position. He landed his lion next to the Red Lion and ran down the ramp joining Keith, who now had his helmet pulled off and breathed a puff of air into Takaki's lungs.

Keith gazed up at his leader, who dropped to the ground on the opposite side of her. "She's not breathing, and her heart is trying to stop."

Shiro nodded. He placed his hands on the center of her chest and began pressing down, trying to keep her heart beating. It took maybe a minute before Takaki rolled and started coughing while water came out of her mouth.

Takaki started breathing and groaned. Her eyelids opened, and she moaned as she placed a hand to her head. "Who hit me with an Imperial Troop Transport?"

Shiro now noticed the cut on her forehead above her right eye. He closed his eyelids briefly and blinked at the unshed tears that gathered in his eyes. He reached down and grabbed her and hugged her tightly to his chest. His voice was shaky as he spoke. "I thought I'd lost you."

They heard a series of explosions in the distance and the rain began to slow and then came to a stop. Takaki frowned, "What was that?"

Shiro smiled, "That was Lance, Pidge, and Hunk, taking out a small Galra base. It appears that all this upheaval was caused by the Galra."

Her eyes drifted to half-mast. "I think I'm going to go to sleep."

Shiro frowned. "I can't let you do that. You have a head injury, and I want Coran to use a medical scanner on you to see if you have a concussion."

Takaki let out a whine. "I'm not a baby, Takashi."

"I know that, but I'm not ready for you to slip into a coma and never wake up." He stood and picked her up in his arms. "It's time to get back to the Castle."

Takaki sighed. "I can walk."

Shiro shook his head. "As your leader, I don't think so."

She crossed her arms over her chest as she glared up at Shiro. But it wasn't only because she tried to show him she was okay. She was trying to keep from shaking because her flight suit under the armor was soaked, and it was cold. She tried not to shiver in his arms, but her body betrayed her. She leaned her head against his chest as her eyes started to close again.

Shiro's voice rumbled in his chest. "Wake up, I can't let you go to sleep yet."

Takaki sighed. "Karabast!" she blurted out. "I'm tired."

Shiro's eyebrow raised at the unfamiliar word. "You're also going hyperthermic, and you need to get out of that wet flight suit. And you could have a concussion. Until I'm sure you're not going to close your eyes and never wake up again, you're not going to sleep."

She groaned again. This time form the places where her body was struck by debris. She released another sigh. "Fine. Let's get this over with so I can sleep."

Shiro carried her to the infirmary where Coran was waiting. Six Djin children and their parents refused to leave until they knew that the person who rescued them was safe. The children had told their parents how the woman named Takaki had risked her own life to save them.

As he entered, the six children began buzzing excitedly as their voices cried out, "It's her!"

Keith raced around Shiro and stood in their way. "Give her some room. She's hurt."

Coran moved over to a wall and opened up a panel that revealed a bed inside. Shiro placed her on the bed. Takaki shivered as her lips had a bluish tinge to them. He pulled the scanner out of his pocket, and it hummed as he ran it over her. He stared at its readings.

"You're definitely bruised, and you need to get out of that wet flight suit. It wasn't made to repel so much water. To keep you safe in the cold of space, yes, but water? Well, if it has a chance, it can deflect it, but the flood was just too much for it. Also, your body temperature is down, and you do have a concussion, my girl. I'll get you something for it."

The smallest Djin followed him. "Will she be okay?"

Coran kneeled on the floor. "Yes, she's going to be right as rain." He realized what he said and gave a slight chuckle. "Uh, poor choice of words on my part."

Takaki wiped at her forehead that still bled and was now turning a brilliant blue and black. Shiro picked up a stray cloth and dabbed at the wound carefully. "You're still shivering."

Takaki rolled her eyes as her teeth began to chatter. "I'm still wearing a soaked flight suit!" She sighed. "You want to be useful, pick up that sheet and hold it up like a curtain." She hopped off the bed and turned to face the wall.

Shiro grabbed the sheet and gazed away from her for a moment as he pursed his lips. "Oops. I'm sorry, I was worried about you."

As she pulled off her armor and wet flight suit letting the wet mess land in a squelching heap by her now bare feet. "I'm sorry, Takashi, for being so curt with you. I know you were worried, and this brother-sister relationship is pretty new to both of us." She reached behind her, grabbing the sheet and wrapped it around her. She climbed back on the bed and sighed as warmth started to replace the cold.

Coran returned with a couple of pills. "I don't know exactly how these will taste to humans, but the blue one is for the pain, and the green one is for the concussion. All you need to do is chew and swallow."

Takaki grabbed both of the pills from his hand and popped them in her mouth and chewed. She made several disgusting looking faces as she swallowed. She glared at the Altean. "Those are horrible. They taste as bad as Bantha smells."

She gazed at Keith. "You can allow them to come over now."

Shiro gazed down on here. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

The Djin and their children rushed forward. "Thank you for saving our children. They had to make sure you were okay."

Takaki smiled as she rolled over toward them so she could gaze over the side of the bed to look at the kids. She suppressed a yawn as her eyes threatened to close. "I'm glad I could help."

Coran turned to them. "We should let her rest now."

Shiro stepped up to her. "Now, I think it's okay for you to sleep."

She couldn't help it as the medication took effect. Her voice slurred. "So sweepy." Her eyelids closed.

Takaki heard her name being called. She opened her eyelids to find Hera leaning over her bed. Hera held a finger up to her mouth. "Shh, Shiro's asleep."

Takaki's eyes darted around until they found another bed where the Black Paladin lay asleep. She lowered her voice, but as she opened her mouth, all that came out was a cracking noise.

"I'm not surprised. You've been asleep for two days now." Hera reached into the pack slung on her shoulder and pulled out an Altean water pouch and passed it over to the White Paladin.

Takaki pulled the straw out and punched the pouch with it. The water felt good on her moisture-starved tissue. "What's going on?"

"The Paladins and our little family are helping the Djin rebuild. Kanan gave them that Plascrete machine we liberated. He showed them how to use it, and they're rebuilding their dam. It looks like Lance is going to get his parade he wanted on the Balmera. They've invited us to a celebration after your better, their leader said. He wants you there to thank you and the Paladins personally." As Hera spoke, she began to spread Bacta on Takaki's bruises and placed a Bacta patch on her forehead.

Takaki shook her head at the mention of Lance. "He's in this for the wrong thing, glory."

Hera nodded. "Hopefully, someday, he'll realize that it's not all for the Glory."

Takaki shrugged. "I doubt it." She pointed at Shiro. "How long has he been here?"

Hera smiled. "Only a couple of hours. He and Keith are taking turns as to who watches over you."

"I guess I should be grateful to them."

Hera held up her index finger. "Grateful yes, beholden no. So don't treat them any differently like you owe them anything. I'm sure they'd do the same thing for anyone here."

Takaki smiled. "You're right."

Once Hera was finished, Takaki eased herself back down on the bed. "I'm still tired."

Hera placed a hand on her shoulder. "Go back to sleep. You need it and allow the Bacta to work."

Takaki nodded. "Thanks, Hera." Her eyelids slid shut again.

Takaki's eyelids opened. She blinked to bring the room into focus. She stretched, and as she sat up, the rustle of the sheet sounded loud in her ears. She glanced over at the other bed to see that it was the Red Paladin.

She pulled up the sheet as the teen stirred and sat up. Keith blinked in her direction as he rubbed a hand over his face. He shifted his gaze to meet hers. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Hera came while Takashi was asleep and put Bacta on the bruises."

Keith nodded as he pointed to the patch. "I noticed the patch." He ran a hand through his raven black hair and hopped off the bed. As he approached, he noticed what looked like a burn mark on her right shoulder. "What happened?"

Takaki gazed down at where he was looking. "Oh, this? It's nothing."

"I wouldn't call it nothing. It looks like a burn."

Takaki shrugged. "I got caught in between two drunken idiots with a grudge against each other. They pulled blasters, and I was hit. My boss, though he tried to do the right thing, he was a bit incompetent, and the Bacta didn't heal right."

"Sounds painful."

"It acts up once in a while, but I get through it."

Keith frowned. "Maybe Coran has something that can help."

Takaki shook her head. "Uhm, no. I'm not looking for living with Bantha breath."

"What is a Bantha?"

"Well, it's this huge hairy beast with four legs, and it has two curling horns on each side of its head, and its home is the desert planet Tatooine. But it's also been transported and domesticated on other planets for its meat, hair, hide, and of course, the female Bantha's milk."

Keith rubbed his chin. "Hmm. Sounds like cows back on Earth."

Takaki gazed around her. "Uhm, was there a reason for you being here?"

Keith's cheeks flushed slightly. "Yeah. Shiro needs you to make your appearance. He wants you to wear your armor."

"I would, but I don't know what happened to it."

Keith's cheeks flushed again. "Oops. Coran took it after you went to sleep."

Takaki sighed. "Could you get it for me?"

Keith nodded. "Yeah, wait here."

Takaki, now dressed in her armor, followed Keith to the transport elevator. There, both Coran and Allura waited. Though the Princess was still exhausted from her using so much energy to save the Balmera and the Balmerans.

Takaki's eyebrow raised as her eyes fell on the Princess. "Are you okay enough to go down there?"

Allura raised her head and locked eyes with her paladin. "I have to let these people know that they are not alone, and they have a friend with us. The more allies we gain, the more we weaken Zarkon."

Takaki nodded, but she wasn't exactly convinced. "You might be right," was all she said, not wanting the Princess to risk her health any more than she was. They rode down to the surface in the transport elevator, which landed on the ground under the Castle of Lions. As the door opened, she stepped out with the helmet clutched under her arm.

Shiro and the other paladins approached. Apparently, Lance was still in a snit over the Holocron.

He glanced at her, then his eyes shifted to Keith and back to her. "Started training your new Grasshopper yet?"

Pidge sighed at Lance's comment. "That's the show Kung Fu, you dork."

Takaki sighed. She had no idea what this grasshopper thing was or Kung Fu. But she kind of liked the idea dork. She tapped her foot on the ground. "Fine! You want to find out what Jedi training is like? Meet Keith and me at six a.m."

Lance spluttered. "T-That early?"

She nodded. "Yes, that early."

He shook his head. "No, that's not fair. It takes me at least an hour to look this good."

Takaki never had a chance to reply when six Djin children wound their way through the paladin's legs, screaming her name. They all latched onto her.

Hera joined the paladins. "Looks like you have a devoted fan club."

Takaki grinned. "It does at that." She knelt in front of them. "Are you behaving? No more playing around the canyon?"

They all nodded. "We won't do it anymore."

Princess Allura smiled at the children. "This is what we're fighting for."

Hera smiled at the Princess. "That's what we fight for too from our own home. Freedom for all people to live in peace and not have to live in fear from the Empire."

"Sounds like we have similar goals."

Hera frowned. "I wish our weapons were stronger. Yeah, we can take out fighters with the Ghost, but those Ion cannons that the Galra have are just too powerful for us to fight one on one."

Hunk held up his hand slightly. "I might be able to check them out and possibly give them a boost."

Pidge grinned. "I could see about fitting the Ghost with a cloak too."

A gong rang in the background. Takaki raised her head. "What's that?"

The children grinned. The smallest one peeked out from around her brothers and sisters. "That's our leader. He's given the signal for all to gather for the celebration. That includes all of you."

Shiro grinned, finding the children's excitement infectious. "Lead the way."

One of the others added. "He wants all of you to sit with him during the feast. It's a great honor."

Lance preened like a peacock as he puffed himself up. "Finally, I'll be getting the respect I deserve," he said as they followed the children.

The children led them to a large outdoor amphitheater place. Cushions sat on the stage area. The leader gazed at them. His electronic buzzing voice came out. "Please join me, honored guests." Everyone, including the Ghost's crew, sat on the pillows.

The leader stood to his full height. "I Deeweii, declare this celebration to commence shortly. First, I want to thank the Paladins of Voltron and the crew of the Ghost for everything they have done. Not only did they save us, but one, I was later informed, is the White Paladin saved six of our most precious children."

Takaki gazed down and squirmed. "It was nothing that any of us would've done."

Deeweii smiled, "And humble she is, too."

The amphitheater was filled with thunderous applause. "Also, I want to thank the Blue, Green, and Yellow Paladins for destroying a Galra Base. The Galra have tried for forever to take over our planet, but our upheavals have always deterred them. This time they used our planet against us. I also want to thank the Ghost crew for the generous gift of the Plascrete machine. We shall make good use of it." He paused and then clapped his hands. "Let the celebration begin."

Several Djin brought out trays of food that the guests ate. Dancers entertained them while music played.

Lance frowned. "I thought we were going to get a parade."

Hunk smacked him on the shoulder. "I don't need a parade. But this food is great." He pointed at one dish that had like folded flatbread over something. "You should try that. It tastes like Taco's."

As the celebration was winding down. Allura stood. "Deeweii, you and you people have been most kind." She handed him a communicator. "We would like to invite you to join the Voltron Coalition. If you accept, you will be the third race to do so. And if the Galra appears again, all you need to do is contact us, and we will return. We also hope that when the time comes, your people will assist us in the fight against Zarkon."

Deeweii accepted the gift. "We are in your debt Princess Allura. If you need our help, all you have to do is ask."

"Thank you."

Deeweii clapped his hands again. "I also have a gift for you." A hover sled appeared with several crates on it. "Food from our stores."

Hunk grinned. "Thank you, Deeweii."

The six children ran up to Takaki, and each gave her hugs. The smallest pulled out a large childish necklace. "I made this for you. It's a medal."

Takaki smiled as she accepted the gift. "I will wear this with pride, and when I do, I will think of you."

Their mother and father stood back and finally called out to them. "They have work to do. Let's let them get on their way."

The smallest one was picked up by her father, and she waved back as her family left them.

Takaki waved back.

The Castle of Lions launched, and they were back on their way to free the Universe from Zarkon's rule.


	5. Ghosts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ghosts come in all shapes and sizes. Some may be welcome and others might not be as welcome.

Coran placed some disks onto Sendak's detainment pod and activated it as both the paladins and the crew of the Ghost stood around watching him. "Okay, guys, Sendak's almost all hooked up. But, look, I have to warn you, this technology was used to keep Altean memories alive, not to interrogate prisoners."

Takaki gazed at Shiro, who stood solidly, ready for anything. But Sendak was frozen in a tube. Silent for once. She rubbed her hand against her chin as Ezra poked her in the side. She lowered her hand and glanced at the smaller teen. "What?"

"Do you have any idea what's going on?"

She shrugged her shoulders as she shook her head. "I don't have a clue."

Shiro gazed at the Altean. "Coran, we understand that this isn't what the technology was meant for, but if we can extract Sendak's memories, we may gain valuable intelligence on Zarkon's troop locations."

Lance, who stood behind Shiro but next to Hunk, nodded. "Yeah, and then we can like," he raised his fist while he knocked it against the side of Hunk's head. "Knock-knock. Who's there? The avenging fury of Voltron, son!"

Zeb chuckled at Lance.

Kanan shook his head. "You would find that funny."

Zeb grinned. "Well, it was."

Takaki rolled her eyes. She sighed and leaned over to Keith. "I'm looking for a word. How would you describe them?"

Keith stared as if lost in thought for a minute before he focused his gaze back on her. "Goofballs."

Takaki nodded, then a smirk pulled at the corner of her mouth. "I'm surrounded by goofballs."

Lance turned and glared at Keith. "Hey, no giving your space ninja teacher the right word!" He stopped as he realized what he said, and his face flushed.

Hunk chuckled.

Lance craned his head over to glare at the Yellow Paladin. "Whose side are you on?"

Hunk lowered his eyes for a minute. "Sorry."

Pidge ignored everyone else as she pressed her face up against the smaller tube next to the larger one that held Sendak. "Fascinating. So, how does this work?"

Coran spoke as he checked the settings on the holographic screen. "As the memories are extracted, they're written bit by bit on individual molecules of the micro-storage strands."

Takaki glanced over at Sabine.

The Mandalorian girl shrugged.

Lance sighed as a far-off look came over his face as his voice thickened with emotion. "When I go, I want all the stuff in my brain stored in a giant ship."

Keith crossed his arms over his chest. "The amount of information in your brain could be stored in a paper airplane."

Zeb and Ezra chuckled, and Chopper made a laughing noise.

Lance flinched then turned toward the Red Paladin. "Yeah? Well he amount of information you have, Keith, could be—"

The older teen didn't turn toward Lance as he spoke, proving he was listening. "Yeah?'

"Uh. It's less than what I have."

Hunk grinned. "Oh, good one, Lance!"

Shiro sighed as he closed his eyelids and let his head drop forward.

Takaki frowned as she put her head in her hands and shook her head. "Children. I'm surrounded by children," she muttered.

Pidge spoke extremely fast in her excitement. "So, this is how you incorporated King Alfor's memories into the Castle of Lions?"

Coran nodded. "Precisely, but its never been attempted on an unwilling participant." He activated it and tube for the memory writing sort of glowed at the top, and it appeared to be blowing nothing but air into the tank.

Everyone waited for something to happen. Keith shook his head. Maybe an hour passed, and he didn't like to just stand around. He needed to do something. "Well, I can't wait around any more. I'm going to hit the training deck."

Takaki sighed. "I'll join you. Wait up, Keith."

Shiro nodded, barely hearing Keith or Takaki.

Keith fought the Gladiator as Takaki observed his fighting style. He had some good moves, but there was a problem with it. He defeated the Gladiator. He stood still for a moment and wiped the back of his hand over his forehead.

Takaki stepped forward. "Keith, you do have some good moves, but it shows you're an instinctual fighter. But instinct will only get you so far. You need to learn from one of the masters." She pulled the Holocron out of her pocket. "And I knew someone who made a recording. He was a brilliant Jedi who would have made a great master, but for some reason, the Jedi Council never made him one."

Keith cocked his head as he stared at her. "So, how do I get to see this, Jedi?"

"Let's sit," she followed words to actions. She sat down, and Keith sat down too across from her.

"Now what?"

Takaki smiled. "Now, you need to meditate and quiet your mind. Shut out everything and only focus on the Holocron while using the Force to find the recording."

"Who am I looking for?"

"Anakin Skywalker."

"Uhm, how do I use this Force exactly?" Keith asked as he frowned.

Takaki gazed at the Red Paladin. "I'm not sure if I told you this before, but I know I did tell Takashi. The Force is an energy that can't be seen, but it binds everything together. It flows through everything. You, me, the lions, the castle, the planets, even the trees and rocks on those planets. You can tap into the Force and use it to gather information. There's only been one Jedi Master who was also on the council who could use both the light and dark side of the force without succumbing to the pull of the dark side that I know of. That was Master Mace Windu."

Keith blinked. "What happens to those who do go to the dark side?"

"They become evil, like Zarkon."

Keith shuddered. "Okay, so how do I avoid the dark side?"

"Strong emotions can lead the way there, or so Master Yoda told me. These emotions are fear, anger, jealousy, and hate. They lead the way to the dark side. A Jedi is only supposed to use their power for the protection of others, even at the cost of their own life. When the Empire took control, they branded the Jedi order as traitors." She leaned forward. "Understand, at one time, there were ten thousand or more Jedi where I was raised who guarded the galaxy. But now you've met three."

Keith's eyes grew. "Wow!"

Takaki locked her dark-gray eyes with Keith's blue-gray eyes. "Now, it's time for the lesson. Close your eyes and focus your mind again on the Holocron. You know how to open it. So now you need to do a search for the information that's in the crystal."

Takaki closed her eyelids and could sense Keith actually tapping into the Force. The crystal activated, and yes, he'd done it. She opened her eyelids to see the image of Anakin Skywalker standing there.

Keith opened his own eyelids as this image began to speak. "Keeping your saber moving is the key to deflecting the fire from multiple adversaries—fluid motion, one into the next, and so on. I've made some adjustments to the classic Form IV technique that I think you'll find works well against droids and other ranged attackers. Here, I'll show you." As he swung his lightsaber blocking bolts from a practice droid, he counted out loud with each movement. "One, two, three, four, five, six. And pivot and start again."

Keith whistled. "He's good."

Anakin turned as he shut off his lightsaber. "Practice this exercise mindfully, and you'll see improvement. I promise." His image froze.

Takaki closed the Holocron. "This is what I want you to do. Practice his movements, and I'm sure you'll see an improvement with your own fighting skills."

Keith gazed at her. "Okay. Uhm, what am I supposed to call you? Ezra calls Kanan Master."

Takaki snorted. "That's when he's being sarcastic. Most of the time, he calls Kanan, Kanan. So, you can stick to Takaki." She frowned. Something didn't seem to be quite right. "I'm going to check on something. But you should practice."

As she turned to leave, she heard Keith say. "Start training level three." She stepped out the door. Takaki strode down the hall, her bootheels clicking against the deck plates. She brought her hand up and rubbed at her brow. Something with the Castle didn't feel right. It was like the atmosphere had changed.

She turned toward the White Lion's hangar. Maybe her lion could give her some insight into what was going on. The lights began to flicker in the hall. Not exactly going out but more like blinking almost strobe light effect.

Takaki frowned and stopped. A figure appeared at the end of the hall. It looked like Mace Windu, but how could this be? He was dead. The image spoke, "Takaki, why did you abandon the Jedi?" She shook her head.

"Master?" She shook her head again. No, she knew the truth, she didn't abandon the Jedi. Order 66 branded all Jedi traitors. "I never abandoned the Jedi. We were betrayed and were hunted. The only way to survive was not to reveal I was a Jedi in training."

The image changed. As recognition came, her eyes widened. It was the Galra who she'd accidentally killed. "No," she whispered. "Your dead!"

He smirked at her. "Did you really think you could stop a soldier of the Galra Empire?" He sneered as he charged at her.

Takaki reached down for her lightsaber but realized her gunbelt wasn't there. That's when she remembered she'd left it in her quarters. She reached out to try to stop him with the Force, but nothing happened. "This can't be happening!" The image disappeared.

"What happened?" she asked herself as she stumbled slightly and placed a trembling hand against the wall. She gazed down at the floor but sat down as she reached out to tap into the Force. She needed to find out where everyone was. Lance and Keith had found Zeb and Coran and were now in the Green Lions hangar along with Hunk, Pidge, and Ezra. No one seemed happy. Kanan and Hera were okay as well as Sabine, but one person was missing Takashi. He was in a panicked state. Almost like she was. But it was also troubling, why was this happening. She rose to her feet. She had to get to Takashi and help him.

Shiro stared at the tube, holding Sendak. He heard the Galra speaking to him. "We're connected, you and me. Both part of the Galra Empire."

Shiro's eyes widened as he shook his head vehemently. "No! I'm not like you."

"You've been broken and reformed. Look at your hand."

Shiro held the Galra hand up as he stared at his hand. He dropped his hand down by his side and stared at the tube. His voice cracked. "That's not me."

"It's the strongest part of you. Embrace it. The others don't know what you know. They haven't seen what you've seen. Face it. You'll never beat Zarkon. He's already defeated you."

Shiro leaned forward as panic set in, and he placed his hands over his ears. "I'm not listening to you!"

"Do you think that a monster like you could be a Voltron Paladin?"

Shiro yelled, "Stop it!" as his Galra hand reached out and punched the tube damaging it. He looked up, and Sendak opened his eyelid and hissed at the Black Paladin. He reached out and pressed a button on the wall. The tube holding Sendak was ejected out of the Castle and into space.

Takaki ran into the room and found Shiro leaned forward. He'd broke out in a cold sweat, and the room flashed red while a low klaxon sounded. "Takashi," she reached him and placed her hand on his shoulder. He trembled like a horse who'd run the longest race of its life. "Let me help you."

"How can you help? Sendak was in my head."

"Share it with me?"

He turned his gaze onto her face. "How can I do that?"

Takaki smiled softly as she reached out and placed her hands on either side of his head. "Close your eyes and focus on what happened." Takaki closed her eyes and began to chant out loud. "I'm one with the Force, and the Force is with me."

After the second repeat, Shiro began to chant with her, and she was able to see what he saw and heard. She flinched when she saw Sendak open his eye and hiss at Shiro. She released her grip on his head as he opened his eyelids and cradled his head in his Galra hand. His body sagged, and he leaned against the smaller tube that held Sendak's memories and leaned against his sister. Before either could say anything, everyone else ran into the room.

Takaki could feel the tremors that ran through his body. She placed her hand on his human arm, hoping that contact with her would help to calm down his panic and fear.

Pidge was the first one to reach them. "Shiro, are you alright?"

Keith noticed the chamber Sendak was supposed to have been was empty. "Where's Sendak?"

Shiro's head raised as his eyes were so wide his iris appeared small. His voice came out rushed, and he stammered. "I-I had to get him out of here. I was hearing his voice. He-He can't be trusted on this ship."

Lance stepped forward and leaned toward Shiro. "It is the ship! I got stuck in a cryo-pod, then in an airlock. Keith got attacked by a robot, and Hunk, Pidge, and Zeb got attacked by food! It's been a weird morning."

A computer beeped, getting Coran's attention. "What? How is that possible?"

Keith turned his gaze to the Altean's. "What is it?"

"The ship is making a wormhole jump!"

The doors opened to the bridge. Shiro did his best to steady his nerves as he focused his attention on the Altean Princess. "Allura, what's going on?"

The Princess craned her head as she gazed back at them. Her voice unusual almost sing-song in tone when she spoke. "We're going home. My father is taking us."

Shiro led the charge toward her when a particle barrier came up around her, stopping him from reaching her. King Alfor's face appeared on the main screen and around the walls of the bridge. "Stay away from my daughter!"

Zeb caught Shiro's attention. "She's still asleep. Ezra had some sleepwalking episodes on the Ghost. Once Kanan caught him before he went out of the airlock in hyperspace."

Shiro nodded as he leaned forward. "Allura, wake up!" he commanded.

Coran frowned when she continued to stare at the screen as if lost in a trance. An image of Alfor appeared at her side. "The Galra crystal must have corrupted King Alfor's AI. It's taking over."

The Castle came out of the wormhole only to find themselves facing a huge blazing star that appeared unstable. Pidge stated the obvious. "We're headed straight for a star, and it's about to explode!"

Allura spoke to the image of Alfor. "Father, I can see Altea."

Coran pressed himself up against the particle barrier. "Allura! Allura, wake up! What you're seeing isn't real!"

Allura bent over as if she were picking something up. "The juniberries, the most exquisite flower of all."

Coran yelled, "Allura, please! You've got to listen to me!"

She paused and gazed toward Coran. "Is this real?"

Alfor replied, "Of course it is real, Daughter. That flower you're touching is real."

Coran yelled back. "But, where's the fragrance of the sweet juniberries?"

Allura brought the empty hand up to her face and sniffed. Her eyes widened as she woke up. "Huh?" She turned and gazed at the screen seeing the star. "That's not Altea."

Pidge said, "When that star goes supernova, it will destroy the entire system. Allura, you must reset the course and get us out of here!"

Allura ran to the pillars that controlled the course of the ship. As she placed her hands down on the top of the pillars, an electrical charge came out of the pillars, shocking her and sending her backward through the particle barrier. Shiro caught her and steadied her back on her feet.

Allura placed her hands on the particle barrier. "Father, please, I beg you to turn this ship around. If we don't do it soon, we will all perish!"

The image of King Alfor stared straight ahead as he spoke. "I know. That is my intention."

Allura's eyes widened, and she shook her head, not believing what she'd head her father's image say. "What? Why?"

"Don't you see, dear daughter? Zarkon can never be defeated. He's been ruling for ten thousand years." Alfor's image began to fade in and out as if it were being affected by static.

"But we must continue to fight!"

Alfor's frown deepened. "Fight for what? It is all over for Altea. You don't have to live a lifetime of war. You can be with the rest of your people and me."

Allura's brow furrowed. "Father, please! The paladins and I can still stop Zarkon! Somewhere in there, you must want that to happen."

Alfor's image changed from the defeated king to the man she remembered. "Allura, my AI has been corrupted. You must disconnect my power source."

Allura dropped her head as moisture collected behind her eyes. She blinked. "I'll see you soon, Father." She turned to face the others. "I've got to get into the AI chamber to disconnect my father's power source manually."

Coran realized what that entailed. "But that means losing King Alfor forever!"

Allura's resolve hardened. "Paladins get to your lions! I need you to slow our descent into the star."

As she ran off the bridge, Coran turned toward them. "I can try to override the system to open the hangars." He ran for his station.

The Paladins ran to their access points on the bridge to get to the hangars. Takaki frowned. This was not a good situation they were all in. But she couldn't help but feel sad for the princess. Not only had her planet and her people been destroyed, and her father was killed. Now the poor woman was going to lose him a second time.

She quietly seethed as she changed into her armor but had to calm herself down. She couldn't allow herself to go down that path, but Zarkon had to be stopped. She changed into her armor and rode her speeder to the White Lion's hanger. She sat in her seat as it automatically slid forward, and the controls rose up out of the floor. Her lion roared as it flew out of the hangar.

The lions braced themselves against the nose of the Castle and fired their thrusters. It was working, but they were still heading for the star. Takaki ground her teeth together as her upper lip curled. "Come on!"

She paused as she felt it. Allura's sadness was coming through in waves. Takaki's shoulders hunched as her chest hurt. It wasn't as bad a feeling someone die, but it was a close second. Her throat hurt as it constricted.

Allura's face came up on her cockpit screen. "Paladins get to your hangars. We're getting out of here."

Takaki sighed and flew her lion back to its hanger.

The Castle wormholed out in time.

Shiro sat next to Allura as he placed his human hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry about your father, Princess."

Kanan gazed down at her from where he stood next to Takaki. "We all are."

Allura nodded but lowered her head. "Thank you. But that was not my father." She stood as she gazed at them all. "The real King Alfor was a great man and a great father. He may not be here with us anymore, but his dream lives on through all of us." She turned to face Coran but stumbled.

The older Altean caught her before she fell. "You're still weak, Princess. You should go back to bed."

She smiled softly at him. "I will, Coran. I also need you to find a planet that's hopefully uninhabited so we can clean this infection of the systems."

Coran nodded. "I'll do that as soon as I get you back to your quarters. You are on strict bed rest."

Allura shook her head. "I am not a child."

"Your father put me in charge of your wellbeing. And I insist that you go back to your quarters now." As he led her off the bridge, the pair continued to argue until she finally consented.

The Castle of Lions, along with the Ghost, landed on a planet with groves of fruit trees and forests that hid who knew what dangers. Though Coran said that it appeared uninhabited didn't mean it was.

The crew of the Ghost stepped onto the Castle's bridge. Ezra ran over to Takaki. "Did you see the trees outside? They look like Mailoorun and Yogun fruit trees."

Hunk perked up at the sound of food. "Fruit trees? Are they edible?"

Ezra grinned as his blue eyes seemed to shine in his excitement. "Mailoorun and Yogun's are good. My mom used to make the best fruit pies and cakes from them."

Hunk rubbed his hands together. "I'm in to go collecting fruit. Besides, the food the Djin gave us won't last forever."

Coran pulled at his mustache. "I have a million things to do on the Castle to clear the systems of the Galra crystal's infection."

Pidge piped up. "Rover, and I will help you. I have an aversion to nature."

Hera and Sabine also offered to help, and Hera drafted Chopper to help. The old C1-10P droid shuddered as it complained.

Shiro nodded. "We should split up into teams." He gazed at everyone. "Keith, Lance, and Zeb will make up one team. Hunk, Takaki, and Ezra will make up another one. I will go with Kanan."

Lance frowned. "Why do I have to pair up with the hothead and the big guy?"

Shiro sighed. "Because I'm your leader, and I said so."

Lance sighed as he slumped.

Takaki with Hunk and Ezra in tow made their way into the grove of Mailoorun trees. Takaki gazed at the fruits and reached out, grabbing one of the spiny, green, yellow, and red fruits. "This one is ready to be picked."

Hunk gazed up at it. "How can you tell?"

"The red on the bottom. When it's this red, it's ready."

Ezra frowned. "Hey, I'm too short to reach them."

Takaki turned her gaze to Ezra and Hunk. She tapped her fingers against her armored thigh. "I have an idea. Hunk, how about letting Ezra ride on your shoulders, and he can pick and drop the fruit in your bag."

Hunk nodded, "I like it." Then he frowned. "I'm not sure I like being used as a pack animal, though."

Takaki giggled. "Hunk, I think you'll live." She pointed away from them. "I'm going to check over there."

"Okay, but stay in radio contact," Hunk added.

Takaki giggled again. She placed her hand on her hip. "Hunk, you know I'm older than you."

"Age is just a number," the Yellow Paladin replied as he knelt for Ezra to climb on his shoulders. As he stood, he raised his eyes upward but could only see his helmet. "And you weigh next to nothing. How old are you?"

"Fourteen."

Hunk gasped. "Fourteen. I thought you were nine."

Ezra rolled his eyes. "No."

Takaki left the pair and wandered over to the edge of the grove. Something seemed familiar about the way the trees were planted. They weren't in rows like Imperials would plant them. They were kind of haphazard in a way. She tapped a finger to her chin. "I've seen this before." She gazed around, trying to figure out where she'd seen it, but it didn't seem to make sense to her. She shook her head.

Hunk's voice came over her helmet's communication device. "Hey, Ezra, you can slow down a bit. We don't want any bruised fruit."

A new voice came over her helmet. It was her brother. He didn't sound panicked but stressed. "Paladins, look out from above—"

Takaki turned around. "Takashi?"

She heard the other Paladins all calling out Shiro's name. Something was wrong. She pulled her communicator to the Ghost's crew out of her belt. Raising it up toward her face, she flipped it on. "Specter Four to Specter One. Kanan, are you there? Answer me!" No response. Whatever happened had happed quickly. She turned and ran back toward Hunk and Ezra.

Hunk stood there, still calling out for Shiro. He turned at the sound of her boots striking the ground. "Takaki, what do we do?"

"Put Ezra down and go take the fruit back to the Castle. Let the others know that something has happened. Ezra and I will go look for them."

Hunk fidgeted where he stood. "But how will you find them? Shiro said to look out from above. What if it was giant birds that came down and plucked them up?"

Lance's voice came over the comm's, "Get real, Hunk. If it was giant birds, I think we all would've seen it."

Keith added, "Don't forget, our suits have built-in trackers so we can find their location."

Takaki blushed slightly. She had forgotten that fact. "Okay, let's get moving."

Hunk let Ezra down and then ran for the Castle of Lions. While Takaki located their position. She shook her head again. "This definitely doesn't make sense. They're in the trees."

Keith, Lance, and Zeb joined Takaki and Ezra. The young teen saw something off to the side of one of the trees growing in a heavily forested area. "There, that looks like a ramp going up in the trees."

Takaki placed her hand on his shoulder. "Good eyes." Takaki led the way up the ramp that wound through the trees until it finally leveled out. She took a quick glance over the side. If any of the paladins fell, they'd be able to use their jetpacks to slow their descent. But if it were Ezra, well, it would mean his death. She took a breath and led the way to what looked like a small village in the trees.

Zeb brought up the rear of their group. "I believe we've found a Wookie village."

Takaki nodded, "Yeah, and I've never known Wookie's to attack without cause."

Zeb's voice rumbled. "Well, they've been treated poorly by the Empire. And think about it. Your armor reminds me of stormtroopers, and he might have been mistaken for one."

Takaki stopped for a moment. "They're here, but so are the Wookies. Let's head for the center."

As they neared it, they heard the rumbling of two creatures voices as if they argued. One sounded vehement while another sounded like it was trying to talk some sense into it.

They stepped into the center where they saw Shiro was forced down on his knees while two Wookies held him there with their strength. Kanan stood beside him. "I don't know what is going on between these two, but it looks like the younger one wants your head for some reason."

Shiro sighed. "I kind of gathered that."

Lance took one look at the Wookies and screamed in a high pitch as he jumped back to hide behind Zeb. "Bigfoot is real!"

Keith craned his head as he glared at the Blue Paladin. "Lance, get real. We've got bigger problems on our hands."

Takaki gazed down at Ezra. "You made a connection to the Wookies we saved from the spice mines on Kessel. Do you think you can translate what they say?"

Ezra shrugged his shoulders. "I can try, but Sabine is more adept at languages than I am."

She shook her head. "We don't have time." Takaki pulled her lightsaber out of her belt and hoped these Wookies remembered that the Jedi saved them from the Droid Army during the invasion of Kashyyyk. She held it up and pressed the button igniting the blade which hummed to life.

Shiro gazed at her. "I don't know what you're doing, but don't hurt them."

"I have no intention of hurting them, just reminding them that Jedi helped them during the Separatist War."

The one she assumed was the leader gazed at her. He held out his hands, patting the air as he spoke in his grunts.

Ezra gazed at her. "He says to put your lightsaber away for he too has one. He says his name is Gungi."

Kanan placed his hand against his temple as he thought. "Gungi, I remember you. You were training at the temple. You were the only Wookie Jedi that I knew of."

Takaki turned off her lightsaber and put it away. "Gungi, you're holding my brother prisoner please let him go."

Gungi again spoke in a series of grunts.

Ezra gazed up at Takaki. "He says that the young one thinks he's a Galra sympathizer because of the arm."

Takaki shook her head. "No, my brother was captured by the Galra, and forced to fight in their arena for the amusement of their leader Zarkon. They are the ones who took his arm and replaced it with that." She pointed at the Galra arm. "He is not a sympathizer. We are fighting the Galra, and he's our leader. Without him, we can't form Voltron."

Gungi cocked his head at her as he spoke again. This time she didn't need Ezra to translate.

"Voltron is made of six mechanical lions that, when combined, creates a giant warrior than can fight the Galra."

Gungi stood there and considered her words. He said something to the pair of Wookies holding Shiro in place. As they started to back away, the younger Wookie roared a battle cry and ran forward with the full intention of wrapping his large hairy hands around Shro's throat.

Keith's eyes grew at what he saw. There was no way from him to cross the platform in time, and he reached out with both hands as he shouted, "No!"

The Wookie was shoved sideways into one of the buildings.

Keith gazed down at his hands as he tried to figure out how he did that.

Gungi gazed at Keith and said something else in his language.

Ezra looked at the Red Paladin. "He says thank you for not killing the young one. He will have to learn who he can trust and who he cannot just by his eyes alone."

He turned his gaze to Shiro and said something else.

Ezra nodded toward Gungi. "He says he's sorry for not believing you. But he had to be certain you weren't dangerous." Ezra gazed up at Takaki. "He also said he's sorry for scaring you. The appearance of Jedi gives him hope that things will change for the better. And if we're looking for meat, since he knows we were picking fruit from their trees, there's a huge herd of Bantha over to the west where he says we can hunt and not be molested by his people."

Shiro stood. He formally bowed toward Gungi. "Thank you."

Kanan added his own thanks.

Shiro walked over to the paladins, Ezra and Zeb. "Thanks, guys, for coming after us." He turned to the Red Paladin and grabbed the startled teen, and pulled him into an embrace. "Thank you, Keith. You saved my life."

Keith stiffened, but he relaxed after a few seconds in the embrace. "To be honest, I have no idea how I did it."

Takaki strode over to the pair and wrapped her arms around them. "You were desperate to save Takashi and opened yourself up to the Force when you needed to."

Lance rolled his eyes at them. "Look, it's great that Mullet saved Shiro, but can we get out of here."

Shiro nodded as he released his hold on Keith. "Yeah, let's head back to the Castle."

Once they returned, Kanan and Zeb took the Phantom to go hunt a few Bantha. Fresh meat would be excellent compared to the Ghost's rations and that green food goo that the Alteans swore by.

As the Phantom left and the Paladins entered the Castle's bridge. Keith grabbed Lance by the shoulders. "Did you see them?" he asked as his eyes gleamed as he released the excitement he'd held back.

Lance shoved at Keith's hands. "See what?"

"All those Bigfoot's, Bigfeet? Whatever you call more than one of them."

Takaki turned her head to gaze at the Red Paladin. She cocked an eyebrow at him. "You mean the Wookies?"

Keith nodded, and a smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. "You know what this means, though. Bigfoot on Earth came from the stars." His arms raised as he spun around.

Shiro leaned over to her. "Keith believes Bigfoot is real."

Ezra turned to them. "What is this deal about this thing called Bigfoot?"

Keith heard the teens comment. He turned and grinned as his eyes still shone with excitement. "Because people have been trying to prove that Bigfoot is real forever on Earth. Now, I have seen it for myself."

Shiro smiled at the younger man. "I'm happy for you, but now we have some plans to work out about what our next step should be to take the fight to Zarkon."

Pidge stepped onto the bridge with Hera and Sabine. Keith was still grinning as he spun around one more time. She blinked as she stood next to Lance. "What's wrong with him?" She blinked again. "I've never seen him so happy."

Lance sighed as he folded his arms over his chest. "He's fangirling over a cryptid."

Pidge blinked a third time and shook her head. "What the hell?" She asked.

Shiro sighed as he smacked his human hand to his face. "Pidge, language."

Keith stopped and put his hands on his hips as he glared at the Blue Paladin. "Bigfoot is not a cryptid."

Takaki cocked her head to one side. "What is a cryptid?"

Pidge pushed her glasses up her nose. "This one, I know. Because of my brother. He's not a cryptid believer, and he called me several times from the Garrison to have me get into the debates that he and Keith had." She sighed and pulled her glasses from off her face, and wiped at her eye before replacing the glasses back on her face. "A cryptid is an animal that people claim exist though there's no given proof to prove they exist."

Keith held his hands out palms facing upward toward the ceiling. "We saw them. They stood seven to eight feet tall, hairy, and stood on two legs. They were intelligent." He pointed at Lance. "You even screamed, Bigfoot was real!"

Lance glared at Keith. "I was startled. Okay!"

Shiro put himself in between the two teens. He didn't want either of them to come close to blows. "Guys, let's drop the talk about cryptids, okay? Now we have to figure out what to do next."

Takaki had an idea, but she didn't know how the others would take it. "Uhm, I have an idea. How about joint training scenario's? We never know when we could have a mission that would include both teams."

Shiro nodded. "I happen to like this idea. It's time we learn what our strengths and weaknesses are and give us a chance to work on them."

Sabine smiled. "It'll give me a chance to blow stuff up, finally." She turned to face Shiro. "My explosions are usually the diversion that gets us out of a sticky situation."

Takaki grinned. "And the colors are so artistically done."

A smirk pulled at a corner of the young Mandalorian's mouth. "What can I say? I love art."

Hera's communicator beeped. She pulled it from its compartment on her belt and flipped it open. "Specter 2."

"Hera, we've returned from our hunting, we could use some help with getting this meat on the Castle of Lions."

Shiro turned to the paladins. "Let's help Kanan and Zeb."

They gathered in the lounge, and Ezra huffed as he flopped himself down on a couch. "What is Hunk's deal? Why did he run us all out of the kitchen? He should have been grateful that Kanan and Zeb got all that meat, not to mention that Bantha milk from a few of the more docile cows."

Lance grinned at the younger teen. "You have to understand, when it comes to Hunk and cooking food, don't get in his way. He's an artist with food."

Shiro turned to Kanan. "I wanted to get your opinion since Hera and Takaki both say you lead your group. What about a joint training session on the training deck?"

Kanan crossed his arms over his chest. "And what would we use as Galra?"

Takaki stepped up to join both the Black Paladin and the Jedi. "The Gladiators. I'm sure we could get Coran to program them. Plus, this ship is so huge I'm sure they have some crates or containers we could use to set up like say the storage bay of an Imperial Star Destroyer."

Kanan raised a hand and gripped his bearded chin. "I like it. But is it doable?"

Shiro shrugged. "I'll talk to Coran and see if he has the things we need."

Coran stood in the control booth and observed the setting up of crates and storage containers from above. "Guys, I'm not sure this is going to work."

Lance stopped and gazed up at the control booth. "Come on, Coran. Everything's going to be fine."

Shiro and Kanan stopped to observe their handiwork. Crates were stacked, not precisely in rows. They were more like some here some there. They would offer some kind of protection from the Gladiators.

Shiro turned his gaze up to the control booth. "Are you sure this training deck will be able to handle any explosions?" He asked as he glanced over at Sabine.

Coran's voice came through his helmet. "Yes, it will."

"Okay. Let us get to our places, and then you can start this scenario we've set up."

Hunk fidgeted. "I hope this doesn't take too long. Even though I turned the heat down, I've got a roast in the oven along with some vegetables, and I don't want it to burn."

Shiro turned to the Paladins. "Okay, guys, get to your places and get ready."

Takaki ran to her appointed starting point and summoned her bayard. Both Kanan and Shiro had said no lightsabers unless it was absolutely necessary. Like if the safety protocols went offline like they did when the Castle's infection had entered all the ship's systems and the Gladiator chased Keith. She frowned. It would be easier just to pull her lightsaber and cut them all down, but maybe they did have a point.

Kanan and the other members of the Ghost's crew moved to their positions, but Hera turned to walk off the training deck. Kanan stopped and turned toward her. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to join Coran up there." She said as she pointed to the control booth.

"Why? You should be here with us."

Hera shook her head. "No, I shouldn't. Where am I usually at? Behind the controls of the Ghost or the Phantom waiting to pick you all up."

Ezra smirked at Kanan. "She's got you there."

Kanan pushed the teen forward. "I guess so. Go to your position."

Zeb chuckled. "Hera wins again." He slung his Bo-rifle over his shoulder and strode past Kanan.

Kanan rolled his eyes.

Once in position, Coran activated the Gladiators. Ten circles opened in the ceiling, and ten Gladiators armed with Galra type blasters dropped from the ceiling immediately followed by more until there were about fifty on the deck.

They began to charge forward firing at the combined group of Paladins and Rebels. Ezra lifted his lightsaber, which was not only a lightsaber but also a blaster built-in. He began firing at the Gladiators, and one fell, but the others continued to rush toward them.

Hunk jumped up from behind some boxes and yelled as he fired his bayard that was now in the form of a giant cannon and mowed down several of the Gladiators.

Lance fired his own rifle shaped bayard and took a couple down. The Gladiators made it through the first row of crates.

Sabine pulled her pair of blasters and stood shooting at the Gladiators. Then she ducked back down when several fired back at her. "This is almost like shooting at Bucket heads."

Kanan and Zeb rose from behind their protection and fired shots at the oncoming Gladiators. Zeb frowned. "Only these Gladiators are better shots than the Stormtroopers."

Pidge summoned her bayard and fired at one of the Gladiators knocking it's weapon from its hands only she hadn't expected it to grab the cable and yank her toward it.

Keith jumped out from where he crouched, his bayard transformed into the sword, and he slashed the Gladiator with it. But more approached his position. He brought up his shield and blocked shots fired at him. But didn't see the picture of the Starbird painted on the side of a crate near his position.

Takaki stood and cradled her own bayard, shooting several more Gladiators while Shiro charged several and took them out with his Galra arm before they had a chance to react to this new threat.

Sabine pressed her detonator, and the crate exploded. It not only took out the remaining Gladiators but sent Keith crashing into another row of containers. The Red Paladin rose and shook his head when his eyes landed on the handheld detonator in the Mandalorian teen's hand. He ripped his helmet off his head. "What the hell do you think you were doing?" He yelled as he advanced on the girl.

Kanan stood and got in Keith's way. "I don't think it was intentional."

Sabine pulled off her own helmet. "No, it wasn't intentional. You were too close to my Starbird." She pulled out her regular paint sprayer and painted the symbol on a crate. "If you see this on a crate or container, you should get away from it. Although, this one is harmless."

Shiro placed his hand on Keith's shoulder. "This is why we need to train together, so we can learn what each of us does." He gazed at the younger man. "Are you okay, though. That was quite a hit you took."

Keith nodded as he brushed at his black bangs that hung in his face. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm mad though that she didn't tell us about this Starbird and explosive paint."

The destroyed Gladiators disappeared through the floor as Princess Allura stepped into the room. "What was that explosion? Are we under attack?"

Shiro shook his head. "No, we're not under attack, Princess. It was a training exercise." He craned his head upward toward the control booth. "Coran, can you check out Keith? He say's he's fine but he's limping a little bit."

Keith frowned. "Really, Shiro, I'm fine."

Coran's voice came from the control booth. "Certainly, Shiro. Princess, you shouldn't be up. You should be resting."

Allura stomped her foot on the floor. "Coran, I've rested enough. I feel fine now."

Shiro turned his gaze to Pidge. "Do you think you can find some information about a target we can hit from Sendak's memories?"

Pidge turned her honey brown eyes up to meet his dark-gray eyes. "I'm pretty sure I can."

He turned to the others. "While Pidge is doing that, let's clean up this mess."

Hunk gasped. "The roast," and ran off the bridge.


	6. Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Many problems arise as the Paladins try to find some intel and Allura gets captured.

The Paladins and the crew from the Ghost hovered around Pidge's chair. Shiro asked, "Anything yet, Pidge?"

"We were only able to salvage bits and pieces."

Keith sighed as he stood up straight. "We need something to work with. Right now, we don't even have a decent map of the empire."

Lance crossed his arms over his chest. "Who needs a map? After ten thousand years of conquering, I could probably fire my bayard at any random point in space and hit a Galra ship."

Zeb sighed as he ran a hand through the long beard on his chin. "He does have a point."

Sabine frowned. "Almost like the Empire. Imperial Stormtrooper and Star Destroyers everywhere."

Shiro gazed down at Pidge's screen. "If we could find troop locations or supply routes, small targets we could hit and run, then we could start freeing planets one by one."

Lance leaned over backward with his head toward Shiro, and his fists raised up in the air. "I want the big kaboom."

Sabine giggled. "Now, you're talking, Lance."

Shiro frowned as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Zarkon's been building his empire for ten thousand years. We're not going to tear it down overnight with six inexperienced pilots and two support ships. Hitting him where he lives would be a huge mistake."

Kanan grabbed at the goatee on his chin. "Shiro's right."

Ezra gazed at Kanan. "But he has three Jedi on his side."

Kanan rolled his eyes. "Two Jedi and one padawan who still lacks discipline."

Pidge spoke up from her seat on the bridge. "Okay, I've cross-referenced Sendak's memories with the info I got from his ship back on Arus. Most of it was a garbled mess, but one thing kept repeating, something called a Universal Station."

Hunk leaned his head over into Pidge's space. "Universal Station? Like, the kind of station that rules the universe?"

Pidge shoved his head out of her way. "Well, we are translating it from Galra, so it could also be Galactic Hub."

Lance added from behind her, "Or Space Base."

Everyone turned to stare at the Blue Paladin. Lance blinked back at them. "What?"

Coran frowned as he moved away from the group toward his station. "I'm pulling up the location of your Universal Hub Station Base on our screens now." An image of two planets and one small moon appeared on the screen but no sign of a station anywhere.

"So, where is it?" Lance asked.

Coran frowned as one of his pointed ears twitched. "I don't know. Our long-range sensors are unable to find anything at those coordinates."

Keith stared at the screen. "Maybe he remembered it wrong."

Pidge steepled her hands together and rested her chin against them. "Or maybe we stumbled across a top-secret base in Sendak's memories."

Allura's face hardened as she stared at the screen. "Only one way to find out. Let's go take a look."

Takaki silently observed everything. She walked over to her seat and sat down as Hera followed her. "You've been pretty quiet. What's bothering you?"

Takaki frowned as she leaned forward. "I-I it's hard to give voice to, but I feel like something bad is going to happen. Something, that's going to give Lance his big kaboom."

Hera turned her head to gaze at Kanan, who stood with Ezra. The man didn't look relaxed at all. Instead, his muscles were tightened, and he seemed rigid. "I think Kanan shares your feeling." She turned her gaze back to Takaki. "Has the Force given you any insight?"

Takaki shook her head. "No, it hasn't." She sighed. "It never gives me all the information I need."

Hera placed her hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "No wonder. You're all tensed."

Takaki lowered her head. "I can't help it, Hera." She reached up and rubbed at the back of her neck. The muscles there were so tense they felt like bands of steel under her fingertips.

The Castle of Lions neared the site of where this base should be. Allura spoke over Hunk, who was snoring away in his seat. "We should be close enough to get a good scan, but far enough away to avoid being noticed."

Ezra craned his head to gaze back at the Yellow Paladin. "How did he do that?"

Kanan gazed down at his apprentice. "Do what?"

"Sleep upside down."

Kanan shrugged. "I don't know."

Ezra gazed up at the older man. "And, uhm, something I wanted to know. Where do you sleep?"

Kanan gazed away from the teen. "That's none of your business." His cheeks flushed. He gazed over at Chopper. "How about a little Jedi training instead. How about levitating Chopper."

Ezra gazed at the droid. "When I do, can I drop him?"

Kanan shrugged his shoulders. He placed his hand on Ezra's shoulder. "No focus on lifting Chopper."

Sabine leaned over the droid with the orange painted head. "Lockdown."

Chopper magnetized his feet that he used to roll over surfaces to the deck.

Kanan leaned over to Ezra. "Focus."

Ezra, with his eyes closed and his arm raised toward the droid, sighed. "I can't do it."

Chopper made a laughing noise.

Zeb gazed at the boy. "Maybe you should use the Force to look at Choppers' feet." He burst out laughing.

Sabine giggled. "It was all in fun. Besides, Hera might get mad if you damage Chopper."

Allura put the Castle into a stationary orbit behind the large planet. Coran ran a scan of the area.

A base appeared on the screen. One that the Galra had used a large asteroid to build it on. Shiro gazed at the screen. "There it is."

Coran stared at the image. "It appears the gravitational field between the two planets warps the electron emission spectrum enough to keep the base off deep space scanners."

Kanan scowled at it. "Just like something, the Imperials would do to hide something."

Takaki frowned as she let out a sigh. "Which is something they do all the time to hide a secret base."

Shiro rubbed at his chin. "This place must handle shipments from all over the Galra Empire."

Takaki stood from her seat. "What are the Galra hiding if they have to hide this place?"

Shiro nodded in agreement. "That's what we're going to find out."

Allura brought up a schematic of the base. "Then we'd better go down to take a look. We'll need to enter here," a section of the schematic glowed, "the central control building."

Keith's eyebrows rose as he shifted his body to gaze at Allura. "I'm sorry, Princess, did you say we?"

Allura's face hardened. She turned her head to gaze at everyone on the bridge. "I'm going with you. I've traveled through the Galra transportation hubs many times with my father before the war began. I know more about them than any of you."

Coran strode toward her but stopped beside Shiro, who now stood beside his seat on the bridge. "Princess, I'd rather you stayed here."

Allura shook her head. "I'm a part of this fight as much as anyone. I'm going." She raised an eyebrow daring anyone to say anything against her decision. "Does anyone have a problem with that?"

No one said a word as they avoided her gaze.

Shiro shrugged as he raised his hands up away from his body. "Suit up."

Coran screamed.

The other Paladins leaned in and stared at Shiro as if he'd lost his mind.

Shiro turned to face the screen again. "I have a plan. We'll go in low and fast using the dark side of the planet as cover. That should keep them getting a visual on us. We'll use the Green Lion to get there since it has thirty seconds of cloaking."

Coran got over his frustration at Shiro and Allura, but he pulled at his mustache. A clear tell that the Altean was still aggravated. "I can flood their short-range sensors with a radiation burst. That should buy you a minute or so, while they assume it's cosmic interference. But, after that, it's up to you to be out of sight."

Shiro nodded as he turned to the others. "Let's go."

The Paladins, along with Allura, snuck into the Central Control Building and made their way to the command center. Inside they found one bored Galra officer overseeing two sentries.

Shiro snuck up behind him. "Psst! Hey!"

The Galra turned around to find out who had whispered to him.

Shiro punched him and sent him flying to land on the floor between the two sentries.

Lance and Hunk used their bayards to take out the two sentries.

Shiro gazed up at Keith, who stood watching out the window to see if anyone had noticed the blasts from the Yellow and Blue Paladins bayards. "How's it look out there?"

"All clear."

Hunk plugged Pidge's computer into the Galra computer console. "This shouldn't take too long."

Pidge's fingers flew over her computer keys. "We'll have all the information we need in a few minutes. Hunk and I have made some improvements since the last time I tried to download Galra info. We should get a nice, clean translation immediately."

Keith crouched, as a shadow began to pass overhead. "Sorry to interrupt, but I think we have company." He moved forward to join the others. "Think we should get out of here?"

Pidge shook her head. "I just need a few more seconds."

Shiro moved in closer to the others. "Stay low. We need this intel."

The communications screen suddenly beeped ad came to life as Keith stage whispered, "Get down!"

A Galra appeared on the screen.

Lance whispered, "He's still looking. I think he's waiting for a signal or something."

Hunk crawled forward, dragging a Galran sentry along with him. "I got it." He stood the sentry up and pushed an arm up.

It seemed to satisfy the Galra on the screen. It went dark.

Lance stood up and approached the Yellow Paladin. "Nice job, Hunk."

Hunk grinned and held up the sentry's arm. "Thanks." Lance high-fived the wrecked machine's hand.

Takaki rolled her eyes.

Pidge ignored them. "Okay, download complete."

Keith asked, "What's it say?"

"Nothing. This place doesn't have any useful information. Just a schedule of the ships coming in and out."

Lance frowned. "Well, I guess this mission was a bust."

Shiro sighed. But as the leader, it was his call. "Let's get back to the Castle."

Allura bent down. "Hold on. Pidge, do you know where that ship is headed?"

Pidge read the schedule. "Uhm, it's scheduled to be here for about a half an hour and then head off to Central Command."

Allura stood up. "That's where they have the information we need, and I'm going to sneak aboard that ship and get it for us."

All the paladins except for Pidge jumped up to their feet. Lance was the first to say what he thought. "What? No way!"

Keith being a little more pragmatic, asked, "How are you going to get in?"

Allura pulled off her helmet. "I'm going to walk through the front." She closed her eyes, and she grew to the size of a normal Galra, and her dark skin turned purple.

The Paladins gasped in awe. Hunk asked, "How the heck did you do that?"

"The Alteans are a chameleon-like people who can blend I with the local populations. It's what made us great explorers and diplomats throughout our history."

Takaki groaned, as Lance asked, "So, can you turn into, like, a balloon?"

Pidge pushed Lance to the side. "How many colors can you be at once?"

A thought suddenly struck Takaki, and she gave voice to it. "Can you make yourself look like someone else?"

Hunk pushed his way between Pidge and Lance. "Aren't you afraid you'll rip your pants?"

Allura answered their questions at once. "No, just one at a time, uhm no, and I will need a change of clothes."

Shiro spoke up. "I can't let you go in alone."

Allura turned her gaze over to the Black Paladin. "Excuse me? I do not need your permission."

Shiro stepped forward. "It's too dangerous. I'm going in with you."

Allura stared down at him. "You will stick out like a Choferiak's nose."

Pidge stepped up next to Shiro. "You're going to need that nose, Princess." She held up his prosthetic arm. "Shiro's hand is made of Galra tech. It's the only thing we have that will allow us to interface with their systems and gather intel." She released his arm. "I can monitor the download remotely from here."

Allura sighed. "Fine, you can come."

Takaki gazed at them all. "For the record, I have a bad feeling about this. I have since before we left the Castle, and this is starting to sound like one of Kanan's plans. The problem with Kanan's plans is that they always go sideways. We winded up getting shot at and chased by Imperial Stormtroopers. Not to mention ISB agent Kallus."

Shiro turned to her. "It's going to be okay, Takaki. We're going to return."

Hunk took that moment to remind everyone that the ship wouldn't be there much longer if they wanted to get the intel.

Takaki, Keith, Lance, and Hunk observed Allura, who carried a large crate with Shiro inside of it. As they entered the ship, Lance leaned forward. "They're in."

Keith gazed down at the two large containers. "What do you think they have in those?"

Hunk thought about it for a second. "Sporks."

Lance and Keith both craned their heads to stare at the Yellow Paladin.

Hunk grinned back at them. "This is an advanced race we're talking about here. Surely they've learned that it's foolish to have forks and spoons when one tool will efficiently do the job."

Pidge hooked her laptop into the sentry and set it on her crossed legs. "Maybe this guy will tell us. What is coming in and out of this station?"

The sentry's eye area blinked with a couple of flashes of light. "Interrogation detected. Initiating lockdown." Its head fell forward.

Pidge's eye's narrowed. "Not talking, eh?" Her fingers flew over the keyboard.

Takaki and Keith both saw the guy in the robes down below the tower in the purple robes. Something about him felt familiar to her and not in a good way. She felt the cold from him. She wrapped her arms around herself as she shivered. Could he be a Force user, and if so, why hadn't he sensed her yet as she had him. She looked away from it as she tried to calm herself down.

Keith didn't notice anything else going on around him other than the guy in the robes and the two containers. "Whoa. Check out this guy. Whatever's happening here that requires the base to be kept secret must have something to do with that scary dude. I'm gonna go check it out."

Lance turned as the Red Paladin rose and started to head for the exit. "How about we lay low, and you don't blow our cover!"

Keith ignored Lance and kept walking for the door.

Lance rose from where he crouched. "Keith, think about what you're doing. Don't walk through that door!"

But the Red Paladin walked through the door.

Lance sighed then played it off by putting his hands on his hips. "I think I told him."

Pidge rolled her eyes. "You're a paragon of leadership, Lance."

Lance turned around and noticed Takaki for the first time. "Takaki? Are you okay?"

For the first time since seeing the robed figure, she heard him. Her head was in such a turmoil that she failed to realize that she'd blocked everything else out. She lifted her head and locked her eyes on Lance. "What?" she asked as her voice came out in a croak. She coughed, clearing her throat. "What?"

Lance sat down next to her. "Are you okay?"

Takaki nodded. "I'll be fine." She glanced around as Hunk was messing around with the sentry causing it to smack itself on the head. "Uhm, where's Keith?"

Lance pointed to the door. "He took off after that guy in the Halloween get up."

Takaki's eyes grew. "No," she whispered. She jumped up. "I'm going to go get him. Stay put right here unless you hear from either Shiro or me first, or unless the Galra shows up." She turned and ran toward the door.

Hunk, who was laughing at what he was doing to the sentry, glanced up at her. "Where are you going?"

She barely glanced over her shoulder. "To get Keith!" The doors opened, and she followed using her own computerized screen on her wrist to track him. She reached the closed doors and using the Force, she pushed the doors open enough for her to slip through.

She shut down the holographic screen seeing Keith ahead of her. She crept up behind him and crouched down. "We need to get out of here," she whispered.

Keith shook his head. "Not yet. Something is going on." He crept forward a little more and gasped. The room was full of containers all over the shelves. A container slid down a ramp until it locked into place at the bottom. In an orb type container, some of the glowing substance was released. The robed figure raised his hands, and bright purple energy came from his hands, infusing the other material with a purple glow.

Takaki didn't like what she saw, although she had no idea what the material was from the larger container. What was going on was definitely evil. "We should go. This is evil whatever it is, and we can't take this guy on."

Keith, with the camera built into his helmet, activated it. "Coran, you need to see this."

Coran gasped. "I've never seen anything like it."

Pidge's voice came from the tower, "What is that?"

A new voice came over Takaki's helmet. It was the sentry. "The material is quintessence, the substance with the highest known energy per unit volume in the universe."

Coran replied, "What? Impossible."

The sentry continued to speak. "Raw quintessence material is brought here from throughout the galaxy and refined into standardized Galra fuel requirements."

Pidge asked, "Did you guys hear that?"

Coran replied, "I can't believe it! They've found a new way to acquire quintessence!"

Keith continued to stare at the person in the robes. "Guys, I'm going to steal some of this quint-whatever." He moved away as a small hover sled came down the hall. He jumped and grabbed the glowing purple container, and landed on the opposite side of the hall.

Takaki crept forward and snuck a peek around the corner. The robed figure was gone. "Huh, where did he go?"

Keith turned around to find himself faced to face with a mashed nightmare. The hooded figure held up his hands, and the Red Paladin was thrown to the floor next to Takaki.

She spun around as the nightmare picked up the small canister and replaced it on the hover sled.

Keith rose to his feet, materialized his bayard, which turned into a large sword. "Okay. Plan B!" He charged the nightmare screaming. He slashed at it, but it vanished and reappeared in another spot. He spun and swung the sword, and it disappeared again. He stopped and gasped. The nightmare reappeared and fired a beam of purplish energy from its hands at the Red Paladin, who now ran to avoid the blast.

Takaki materialized her own bayard and crouched as she took aim and fired her weapon at it.

It fired one final blast at Keith when an explosion took place, and it stopped firing. Keith flew up out of the smoke using his jet pack and swung his bayard at him. It managed to block his attack with more energy, which exploded and blew him backward onto a shelf of containers of quintessence. He cradled his hand, which was now exposed from the glove being burned off. "Pidge, we need an extraction now! Hurry!"

Takaki continued to try to cover Keith, but the robed figure was only interested in taking out the Red Paladin. She frowned. "This is getting us nowhere." She made her decision quickly as Keith went sliding down a conveyor belt following another container of quintessence.

The container came to a stop at the end of the conveyor, and Keith rose to his feet as the nightmare stood at the top, and it's right hand glowed as a ball of energy appeared and grew larger.

Takaki ignited her lightsaber and used her jetpack to fly up and get in front of Keith. As the robed figure fired another shot of energy from its hand, she managed to deflect some of it, but the rest struck the container behind them, and it exploded.

The Green Lion's head came through the wall. Pidge's voice came from the lion as it opened its mouth. "Get in! We've got to get Shiro and Allura!"

Keith and Takaki ran up the ramp. He held up his burned hand and gazed at it as the quintessence seeped into his skin, and the burn was automatically healed.

The Green Lion picked up the escape pod. Shiro left it and walked into the cockpit. Keith gazed past him and asked, "Where's Allura?"

Shiro lowered his head as he grabbed the back of Pidge's chair.

Keith leaned in toward him. "Shiro?"

He kept his eyes closed. "I tried to grab her to bring her back with me, as you did with the Wookie, Keith. But she sacrificed herself to save me."

Pidge craned her head around as she gazed up into his pained face. "So, she's still on that ship?"

Hunk asked, "The ship that's headed to Zarkon Central?"

Keith asked, "The place that's too dangerous for us to attack?"

Takaki stepped up to the Black Paladin, but she directed her comments to the others. "Back off. Can't you see he's in pain and feels bad about this?"

Shiro stood up straight and placed his hand on Takaki's. "I tried." He turned to Keith. "It doesn't matter how dangerous it is. We can't let Zarkon get Allura. We don't have a choice about it. I-I wish I'd been stronger."

Takaki placed her arm around his shoulders. "I know, but it happens this way sometimes. It doesn't mean you didn't try, and I know you did. Remember, I can feel your pain, and I know you did everything in your power."

Shiro nodded. "Pidge, get us back to the Castle. I'll take full responsibility with Coran."

The door slid open, and the Paladins walked onto the bridge. Shiro craned his head toward the Green Paladin. "Pidge scan the download from the ship. Find out where Zarkon's central command is located."

Pidge raced to her seat with Hunk on her heels. "On it."

Coran turned around. "What happened? Where's Allura?"

Shiro pulled the helmet off his head. "They captured her. She sacrificed herself to save me and the information. I didn't have a choice."

Coran gasped. "How is that possible?"

Shiro frowned. "Coran, I'm sorry things didn't go as planned. But we can't focus on what went wrong. We've got to figure out how to make it right. Pidge anything?"

Pidge craned her head to gaze at the other Paladins as she pointed at her screen. "Guys, look at this." She sent the image on her screen to the main screen.

Coran gasped. "Look at the size of it!"

Ezra took a step forward as his eyes grew. "We'll be sitting Mynocks."

Pidge focused on the screen. "I think we should go in right away. Every minute we wait gives Zarkon time to prepare his forces."

Lance nodded. "I agree."

Hunk frowned. "Uhm, do you guys remember the Balmera? We could barely take out one fleet. But this, a base this size could hold a thousand fleets!"

Keith frowned. "Or maybe we shouldn't go on this mission at all. Think about it. We'll be delivering the universe's only hope to the universe's biggest enemy."

Hunk's eyes grew as he gazed at the Red Paladin. "Keith, that's cold, even for you."

Keith frowned. "I'm not saying I like the idea. I'm thinking like a paladin."

As Lance stared accusing Keith of being selfish, Takaki ripped the helmet off her head and shoved it into Ezra's hands. She stormed over to the paladins and grabbed Lance by the arm and pushed him out of the way. "Sithspit! Your all acting like a bunch of nerf herders. You're so emotional I can't center myself. Someone come up with a plan before I do it myself!"

Shiro blinked at her.

Pidge yelled from her seat. "We're all upset because we lost Allura!"

Coran turned and glared at the Black Paladin. "No, Shiro lost Allura!"

Hunk, who never lost his temper at anyone, was losing it now. "Okay, okay! This bickering isn't helping us get Allura back!"

Shiro silently agreed with the Yellow Paladin, and he was kind of shocked by his own sister. He took a breath. "Let's focus. How are we going to get Allura?"

He stepped away from Pidge's chair as the other Paladins went off to their chairs and tried to figure out a way to get in. Kanan joined the Black Paladin. "You know there's only one other time I've seen her like this, and that's when she was having visions about you."

Shiro blinked as he gazed down at the deck. "I-I didn't know."

Kanan gripped his chin with a hand. "Risk her health and life certainly. But this is the first time I've heard her cuss like a Hutt who'd lost their entire shipment of spice."

Shiro frowned. "I don't know what a Hutt is, but she certainly seems a bit stressed out."

Kanan turned his gaze over toward Takaki's seat, where she now sat. "You could say that. Hera told me she's been feeling out of sorts about something. It's like the Force is trying to show her something, but it's not showing her, and that's got her off her center. Then to add how emotional you all are over Allura, well, that's even more disturbing."

Shiro's eyebrow rose. "Then why don't you seem to be affected by it?"

"I've got more practice, and meditation helps a lot."

"I suppose it would. But we need to come up with some kind of plan. I suppose you don't have any ideas?"

Kanan shook his head. "No, I don't. I'm sorry."

Shiro nodded. "Well, I probably should go ask the team if they've come up with anything. Thanks for letting me know about Takaki's outburst, Kanan." He strode away and stopped next to Lance, who was checking out the schematic of Zarkon's command ship and the area around it. "Anything?"

Lance shook his head. "There's just no way in. They'll have us tracked from every direction."

"There's got to be a way. Keep looking."

Takaki kept her eyes Shiro as he joined Coran. She sighed as she relaxed. What they were talking about, she couldn't tell, but at least Coran wasn't yelling at him anymore.

Ezra walked over to her seat. Held her helmet out to her. "I think you might need this."

Takaki smiled at him as she reached out and took it from him. "Thanks, Ezra. I'm sorry about going off like that earlier."

Ezra shook his head as a smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. "Don't be. You needed to blow off some steam. I don't blame you for that. They were getting on my nerves too."

Shiro and Coran both turned around. "Everyone eyes front," Shiro said. "We've got a plan to get Allura. We're going to jump to the heart of the enemy, unseen and undetected."

Pidge pushed her glasses up her nose. "I thought we needed Allura to open up a wormhole."

Coran nodded. "Yes. However, I think we have enough of her residual essence stored in the system to make one jump." He turned and brought up the diagram of the area around Zarkon's command ship onto the main screen again. "We'll hide in one of these giant gas planets in Zarkon's command system. The gas is so dense we'll be hidden from visual and sensor scans."

Shiro took over the briefing. "From there, we'll use the Castle to scan for Allura on Zarkon's ship and attack before he knows what hit him."

Hera placed a hand on her hip. "Sounds good and all, but I know from experience how quickly a good plan can go sideways."

Kanan turned to her. "Are you talking about my plans?"

Hera nodded. "Yes, I am."

Zeb chuckled.

Sabine had to place her helmet on her head to hide the smirk that pulled at her lips.

Ezra grinned, not hiding it from either one. While Chopper let out his droid version of laughter.

Hera turned to Kanan. "Sorry, love, but facts are facts."

Coran cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention. "There's only one hiccup. We have enough energy to wormhole in, but without Allura, we won't be getting out of there."

Shiro turned his gaze to Coran for a quick minute but turned it back to the Paladins. "It doesn't matter. We're not leaving without her."

Hera gazed at them as the head tails or lekku growing from her head twitched. A sure sign she wasn't at all happy with this plan. "What do you need us to do."

Shiro gazed at her. "Provide support if we need it."

Coran opened the wormhole, and the Castle flew through with the Ghost cruising next to it inside the giant red-colored gas planet. The older Altean ran a scan. "I'm detecting Allura's energy signature. From this distance, the signal's weak, but she's somewhere inside Zarkon's command ship."

Keith replied, "Gives us a starting point."

Coran's fingers flew over his holographic controls. "Once we get closer, we'll be able to narrow down the location where the Princess is being held."

Shiro nodded quickly. "Okay, guys, this is it. Voltron is going to come in hard and fast, and without warning. We'll smash our way into Zarkon's ship and grab the Princess before they know what hit them; we'll have the Princess and be on our way."

Hera's voice came from the Castle's speaker. "Let's hope your right. May the Force be with us, all of us."

Voltron flew out of the gas planet and headed for the command ship. However, a row of cruisers blocked their path while a weird energy field surrounded the entirety of the command system. Hunk said, "What is that?"

Pidge replied, "I don't know, but I hope once we get the Princess, we can find a way out of here."

The row of Galra ships began firing at Voltron with their Ion cannons.

As Voltron got closer, Shiro's voice came over loud and clear in Takaki's helmet. "Chest weapon, now!" She slammed her bayard into the weapon slot. The giant V on the mechanical warriors' chest glowed, and a beam of whiteish-blue energy shot out and pushed the warships out of line.

With the ships now unsettled, Shiro said, "Sword!"

The Sword materialized, and Voltron attacked the first ship in line, spearing it on the tip of the sword. Voltron shoved and pushed the first ship in the line into the others, causing them all to explode.

Takaki heard Sabine's muttered, "Beautiful!" through her helmet. The White Paladin smiled at that, but she still felt off-center as she gripped her controls tighter. Something was going to happen and not in a good way.

Voltron charged forward past the destroyed ships toward a second line of Galra cruisers, which began firing at the giant warrior. Lance yelled, "More trouble straight ahead!"

Shiro said, "Form shoulder, cannon!"

The giant mechanical warrior's eyes flashed as the cannon formed on the right shoulder. Multiple beams of energy blasted out of the cannon striking all the cruisers at once.

Voltron flew forward toward Zarkon's ship, but suddenly the great mechanical warrior stopped as if a giant hand had reached out and held it in place. Keith yelled, "We've lost the sword! Something's malfunctioning!"

Coran asked, "What's happening?"

Lance spoke up, his voice rising, "Somebody do something! Voltron's frozen up!"

Keith yelled, "Shiro?"

Shiro growled from between his teeth, "I can't hold it!"

Voltron separated into individual lions. Hunk said, "What just happened there? Something tore us apart!"

Lance replied, "I don't know, but we've got bigger problems now. Look!"

Fighters were launched from one of the outer rings surrounding the area. Keith said, "Why do I get the feeling these guys knew were coming?"

More cruiser's appeared from behind the command ship. They also began launching fighters while firing their ion cannons at the lions. Takaki turned her lion to join the others in attacking the Galra forces.

Hunk said, "There's no end to these guys."

The Castle of Lions and the Ghost flew out of the gas planet. The Castle's primary weapon fired as the older Altean yelled, "Coran attack! I've waited ten thousand years for this!"

Shiro grunted.

Takaki looked around as she turned her lion around. "Takashi?"

Keith asked, "Shiro, are you okay?"

Shiro grunted again. "Something is overriding the controls! My lion's not responding!" He suddenly yelled as if in pain.

Takaki released the hold on one side of one of the control yolks to hold her head as the splitting pain cut through. "Takashi! Fight it!"

Keith said, "Shiro's in trouble. I'm going in!"

Shiro was ejected from the mechanical cat.

Hunk said, "What do we do now, guys? Our plan isn't working out!"

Shiro replied, "I'm going for the Black Lion. You guys get the Princess, now!"

Coran said, "I've located Allura's position. Uploading the coordinates to you now. In the meantime, I'll provide covering fire."

Hera's voice came over Takaki's helmet. "We'll go after the fighters, just keep those cruisers off of us."

Shiro said, "My jetpacks damaged. I'll need to go through the ship."

Keith spoke up, "You get the Princess without me."

Lance spluttered, "What? We've got to stick together. What are you doing?"

"Whatever I can."

Out of the corner of Takaki's eye, she saw Keith use the Red Lion to knock the Black Lion away from Zarkon's ship

Someone came out of the ship and landed on one of the rings by the spot where the Black Lion landed. Keith said, "Who. Who is that?"

Coran gasped. "It's Zarkon! Keith, get out of there! He's too powerful!"

Keith said, "This is my chance to put an end to the Galra Empire! I have to take it!"

Coran yelled, "Keith, don't!"

Takaki was torn. She wanted to help Keith, but yet her brother had ordered them to get the Princess. Sighing, she left Keith to fight Zarkon. She blinked as Takashi's fear, anger, and hatred rose in her. Shaking her head, she tried to clear it. Her mission was to get the Princess, but his strong emotions were clouding her own judgment.

Hunk yelled, "This is it! The Princess is in this part of the ship!"

Lance said, "How do we get in?" He asked as his lion was rocked by a nearby explosion.

Pidge replied, "Maybe I can try hacking one of their cargo bays."

Hunk said, "We don't have time for that!"

Takaki grunted as another explosion rocked her lion. "Do you have a better idea?"

Hunk said, "Actually, yes, I do."

Takaki shook her head as Hunk rammed the side of the ship, crashing the lion's head into the hull.

Lance said, "Looks like we've got to cover Hunk's butt!"

Takaki snorted at his comment as she spun the White Lion around to take out another fighter that sped toward the exposed backside of the Yellow Lion.

After a few minutes, Lance asked, "Hunk, did you get the Princess?"

Hunk replied, "Yeah, I got her, but there's a change of plans."

Takaki continued to fight, but she gasped and reached out, gripping her right side. It hurt so bad that she had to take a quick look, but there was no wound there. Takashi was in pain and fighting it.

The fight between Zarkon and Keith had moved a distance away from the Black Lion. Hunk and Allura dropped Shiro off at the mechanical cat.

Takaki heard her own lion's purr that the right paladin had the right lion. She turned her gaze up toward the roof of the lion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The White Lion refused to answer her.

She managed to catch a glimpse of the Black Lion attacking Zarkon. She sighed in relief as Shiro said, "I got you, buddy!" referring to the Red Lion.

The Paladins boarded the Castle, but during this emergency situation, they landed in the main hangar along with the Ghost.

Allura said, "Alright, Paladins, let's get out of here."

Hunk's panicked voice came over Takaki's helmet. "Hello? What's going on? I don't see a wormhole!"

Coran replied, "The Galra barrier is jamming our ability to create one! They have us completely surrounded!"

Takaki sighed. Could this plan get any worse?

For some reason, whether it was luck or sabotage on some unknown parties part, the barrier went down.

Pidge yelled, "What just happened?"

Hunk said, "Who cares? Wormhole!"

As the Castle began to enter the wormhole, a dark black and purple energy struck the wormhole. Takaki placed her hand on her stomach. It was awful. It made her want to lose whatever she'd eaten earlier that day, if anything.

Shiro asked, "Coran, what's happening?"

Coran replied, "The integrity of the wormhole has been compromised. It's breaking down!"

Lance asked, "What does that mean?"

Coran replied, "It means we have no control over where we're headed!"

Energy from the wormhole entered the landing bay and grabbed the lions sucking them out of the Castle. The Black, Red, and White Lions were thrown out of the Castle together.

A wormhole opened, spitting the three lions out over a desolate landscape. Warning klaxons sounded in the White Lion, but Takaki couldn't get it to respond as it came hurtling down to impact the surface.

Takaki's eyelids snapped open and gazed out the cockpit at the desolate rocky surface of the planet. It was all gray as if nothing could survive there. Feeling a twinge of pain on her side, she reached up under her seat and grabbed her pack and slung the strap over her shoulder, so it crossed her body, making sure it didn't interrupt her reach for her blaster or lightsaber.

Glancing around, she found the control to the roof hatch of her lion's cockpit. Climbing out, she stood on top of the lion's head and let her eyes roam over the terrain, trying to get a glimpse of either the Red or the Black Lion. A frown pulled at her mouth. There wasn't a single sliver of a glint of either lion's metallic hide. Sitting down on the White Lion's head, she let her feet dangle in front of the completely dark eyes.

Taking a couple of steadying breaths, she closed her eyelids and reached out her arm using the Force to find the locations of the Red and Black Lions. The Black Lion was closer to her place while the Red Lion was some distance away in the opposite direction.

"Keith, if you can hear me, I'm setting out for Takashi's location." She frowned. He might not be able to answer after that fight with Zarkon, but her brother needed medical attention now.

Craning her head back toward the Black Lion's location, she spoke. "Takashi? Takashi, if you can hear me, I'm on my way to your location." Static was her answer.

Sighing, she climbed down from the roof of the lion and set out for her brother's location. Survival training kicked in as she moved from a jog to a fast walk and followed it by a regular walk when she got winded but never decreased her pace. The Red Paladin's voice caused her to stop. "Shiro, can you hear me?"

"Keith?"

"Yeah, I can't raise Shiro on the comms."

Takaki nodded. "I haven't heard anything either, but I know he's alive."

"How?"

Takaki let a smirk pull at her mouth as she started walking again. "We are twins, remember. We have a bond that only twins share. We're also connected together by the Force. I'm heading for his location right now."

Keith replied. "I'll get there as soon as I can. But excuse me if I want confirmation of him being alive."

"Keith, I understand. I want to hear his voice too."

She broke out into a jog, then back to a brisk walk, followed by a regular walk. Something told her to speed up the pace, but a flat-out run was out of the question.

As she continued to move on, she heard Keith continue to call out though he was sounding a little winded. "Shiro? Are you there? Answer me!"

Takaki was rewarded with Shiro's voice. "Keith."

Keith said, "Shiro, it's Keith."

Takaki couldn't help hearing the pain in Takashi's voice. "Keith, I'm here. I'm okay."

Keith managed to get out a chuckle. "Shiro, you made it."

Shiro replied. "It takes more than a glowing alien wound, a fall from the upper atmosphere, and crashing into a hardpan surface at what I'm guessing at about twenty-five meters per second squared to get rid of me. How are you?"

Takaki shook her head. If he was sort of making jokes, then his sense of humor didn't take a hit.

Keith replied, "Not good. My lion is busted." He panted over the coms. "Wait, what wound?"

Shiro replied, "It's nothing."

Takaki increased her pace. "Hang on, Takashi. We're coming."

Shiro's voice lowered to a whisper. "On second thought, you'd better hurry."

Keith said, "Shiro, what happened?"

Shiro replied, "There are several creatures."

Takaki heard the roar from her helmet. "Takashi, get out of there!"

Keith said, "Uh, oh!"

Takaki turned and craned her head in his direction. "Keith, are you okay?" She turned back around toward Takashi again as this time, it sounded like a creature that he was talking about lunged at him. She grit her teeth. "Takashi, I can see the Black Lion now. I must be close to you."

Shiro replied, "You are Takaki."

Takaki heard him call out to the Red Paladin. "Keith, are you okay? What happened?"

Keith grunted. "Minor delay, but I'm on my way. How are you?"

Shiro replied, "I'm all right, but I'm trapped in a cave, and some nasty-looking creatures have me cornered."

Keith replied, "Stay put, I'm on my way. I just have to figure this out." Keith sighed heavily. "Patience yields focus."

Shiro said, "That really stayed with you, didn't it."

"You've given me some advice. If it wasn't for you, my life would have been a lot different."

"Yeah, you wouldn't have crashed a flying lion o an alien planet and be stuck with little to no hope of rescue." Shiro started coughing.

Takaki hurried up the hill and saw the cave with the creatures trying to figure out how to get to the Black Paladin.

Keith said, "Stay with me, Shiro."

Takaki heard Keith yell, followed by a groan as she drew her blaster, trying to get closer to the cave.

Shiro yelled, "Keith! Keith!"

"Hang on, I'm on my way."

Panic began to set into Shiro's voice. "Good, because these guys have started digging."

Keith chuckled. "Shiro, I have a visual on the Black Lion."

Takaki, not seeing a way around it, slid down the hill toward the creatures. But Shiro screamed as he was pulled out by one of the creatures and thrown. He jumped up, activating his weaponized hand, and managed to hit one of the creatures knocking it down to the ground. Another charged and rammed its head into him.

Takaki tried attracting the attention of the creatures by peppering their thick hides with laser fire. They didn't even flinch. The lure of the wounded human before them was too much that they gave chase as Shiro rolled down the steep hill. Her eyes narrowed. No beast was going to make her brother lunch.

Keith yelled, "Shiro, what happened?"

Takashi reholstered her blaster as she followed the creatures that were now chasing Shiro. "He was attacked by the creatures. They're boxing him in, and there's no way I'm letting these beasts turn him into dinner!"

Pulling her lightsaber free, she used her jetpack and flew over the creatures. She landed just in front of Takashi and pushed out with the Force knocking one of the horrors back. While she was bound to these creatures by the Force, she knew that this was need of theirs for meat. But not at the cost of Takashi.

One behind him decided to try to rush in and attack from behind. Takaki turned and ran toward him, using the jetpack to leap over him. As she touched down, she slashed out with the lightsaber opening a wound in its chest.

Another one leaped toward him when the Black Lion's giant paw came down on top of the creature crushing it into an unrecognizable mess. The lion slashed out another of the beasts as Shiro started to fall backward.

Takaki turned off her lightsaber and caught him before his back could hit the ground. "Stay still, okay. We don't need the Black Lion accidentally stepping on you."

The lion let out an angry roar at the remaining creatures who ran.

After retrieving the other lions who were now working, Takaki and Keith eased Shiro down on the ground with a rock supporting his back. Takaki pulled the pack's strap up over her head. "I've got to take a look at that wound and see if I can help heal it."

Shiro stopped her. "I don't know if you can. Zarkon's witch did this."

Takaki's eyes shifted as she gazed up into his face. "I've got to try." Reaching into the pack, she pulled out one of the liquid Bacta packs ad and a cloth and used it to clean the wound.

Shiro's face twisted in pain. "I-I don't think that's supposed to happen." A groan followed his words.

Takaki nodded. "You're right, it's not." Sitting down next to him. "I might be able to try something else." She closed her eyes as she reached out with the Force toward the wound and wished she hadn't. The sickness came back from the energy that infected the wound. It was dark and sickening.

Takaki rose to her feet and ran toward the lions away from Shiro. Stopping behind the White Lion, she leaned over and retched. Her emesis was striking the ground. Sucking in a breath, footsteps came from behind her, and a supporting arm wrapped around her midsection.

"I'll be okay. The dark energy of Takashi's wound made me sick." Another wave of nausea struck her. Retching again, more vomit came from her. Straightening up, Keith let go of her and passed her the canteen he found in her bag. Taking a mouthful of the liquid, she swished it around in her mouth then spit it out. Bending down, she scooped some dirt up with her gloved hands and covered the mess.

Keith helped her back to where he'd started a fire.

Takaki nodded as she sat down next to Shiro's human arm. An eyebrow raised. Somehow Keith had managed to start a fire.

Keith sat down on the opposite side of Shiro. He took that moment to speak. "Thanks for saving me."

"You'd have done the same for either of us," Keith replied. "How's your wound?"

Shiro held both hands over it as he gazed up into the sky. "My wound's great. It's getting bigger all the time." He half chuckled. "Just trying to lighten the mood."

Keith turned his gaze to Shiro. "Hang in there. When Allura and Coran find us, they'll fix you right up."

Takaki leaned her head back against the rock as she listened to them talk. She knew they had a strong bond, and she was glad that Shiro and Keith had that brotherly bond. Her only regret is that she hadn't been around to share that bond with them.

Shiro gazed at the younger man out of the corner of his eyes. "Keith, if I don't make it out of here," he paused as he fought another wave of pain. "I want you to lead Voltron."

Keith turned his head, bringing his full blue-gray eyed gaze upon Shiro's face. "Stop talking like that. You're gonna make it."

Takaki gripped the back of Shiro's head with a hand as she turned her own gaze on him. "I know it feels bad right now. But you are going to make it, even if I have to die trying to do it."

Shiro stared at her. "Don't joke like that!"

Takaki shrugged her shoulders. "Who's joking? I'm serious."

All talk ceased as the sky began to glow, bathing them in an eerie glow. A wormhole opened, and the Green Lion flew through. Keith rose to his feet and grabbed his helmet, putting it on his head. "Pidge, contact the Castle. Shiro's hurt and needs a healing pod."

"Sure. How about you and Takaki?"

Takaki stood and picked up her pack, slinging the strap over her shoulder. "We're good." Reaching down, she picked up Shiro's helmet and placed it gently on his head, pulling it down.

Shiro reached up and grabbed her hand. "The conversation we were having isn't over."

A smirk pulled at Takaki's lips. "You say that now, but tomorrow you might feel differently." She reached down and grabbed his human arm. Shiro groaned as Keith also lent his strength in helping the Black Paladin to his feet.

They heard Pidge talking to the Castle when Pidge suddenly said, "Uhm, how do we get the Black Lion back to the Castle?"

"I can still fly," Shiro sighed.

The lions flew toward the Castle. Shiro fought to stay conscious because of the pain in his side. The Black Lion purred, offering encouragement coaxing him to stay awake long enough to land the mechanical cat on the deck of the pod bay.

Takaki landed the White Lion next to the Black Lion and flew down her lion's ramp and ran up the Black Lion's ramp. Sweat dotted Shiro's face as he ground his teeth together from the pain. "Hang on, I'll be back with some help."

Shiro managed to nod.

Takaki ran out of the cockpit and onto the ramp. "I need some help with Takashi! He's hurt!" She turned and ran back into the cockpit.

Shiro was struggling, trying to pull himself out of the seat.

Takashi managed to reach him as he nearly fell. "Why can't you wait for help? You know it doesn't make you weak." She draped his human arm over her shoulder. "Lean on me if you're determined to get out of here."

Shiro ground his teeth together and groaned. "I'm too heavy."

"No, your not. Now listen to me, Takashi Shirogane, you're not heavy. Heavy is trying to drag a full-grown Lasat who'd got knocked out to safety. That's heavy." Turning, she guided him out of the cockpit and toward the mouth of the Black Lion. "Come on," she coaxed. "One foot in front of the other."

As they made it to the ramp, Pidge and Keith ran in with Coran on their heels, leading an anti-gravity stretcher. Shiro lifted his head and tried to focus his pain-filled glassy-eyed gaze on the Red Paladin. His legs were turning to lead as his vision clouded, and his body started to collapse.

"Shiro!" Keith yelled as he raced over, catching his friend, brother, and leader before the older man could drag himself and Takaki down.

Coran raced past Pidge. "Here, let's get him on this stretcher. He'll have an easier ride down to the infirmary."

Shiro moaned as they moved him onto the stretcher. Coran turned his gaze to Takaki, Keith, and Pidge. "Don't worry, the healing pod will fix him right up."


	7. Discoveries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins find that they are not alone in this war against Zarkon. Plus Ezra learns a difficult lesson.

Reaching out, Takaki placed her hand on the cold, smooth surface of the healing pod. She frowned. Shiro seemed to be dreaming, and those dreams didn't seem restful the way his face screwed up at times.

Bootheels clicking on the deck plate from behind her disturbed her thoughts as pressure on her shoulders drew her eyes up to gaze at the reflection on the surface of the pod. The man behind her had his brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and a goatee on his chin. "No matter how much you might wish it, you can't transfer your energy to Shiro," Kanan said. "You heard Allura. He's going to be in there for at least two days. You need to get some rest."

Takaki shook her head. "I can't, Kanan. I have to make sure he's going to be okay."

Keith, who stood nearby, sighed. "Takaki, I'm going to get something to eat and then return. Coran's going to pull out one of those beds in the wall for me. Maybe you can get him to do the same for you. I have to stay here."

Kanan gripped Takaki's shoulders. "That sounds like an excellent idea. You don't want to make yourself sick, do you?"

Takaki sighed as she dropped her head. "No, I guess not."

After changing out of her armor, taking a shower, dressing, and getting something to eat, Takaki returned to the infirmary. There she found not only Keith but Pidge also in beds, and a third opened for her.

Coran stood over at the monitor for the healing pod that Shiro was in. He raised his head as she walked over to him. "Ah Takaki, Keith told me that you wanted to stay here for Shiro. I took the liberty of opening another bed for you."

A smile pulled at the corner of her mouth. "Thank you, Coran. I appreciate it. Has there been any word about Lance and Hunk yet?"

"Not yet, but Allura won't give up searching for them."

Takaki nodded. If there was one thing she'd learned, Allura would never leave a Paladin behind. Herself, yes, but not one of the paladins who flew the Voltron Lions. Turning away from Coran, she walked over to the empty bed and sat down. She gazed over at the healing pod but knew she wouldn't be able to sleep.

Folding her legs up under her, she slowed her breathing and closed her eyelids. She dropped into a meditative state and cleared her mind allowing the Force to flow through her.

Something poked her in the cheek a couple of times. Takaki's eyelids opened, but her vision hadn't focused yet. Reaching out, she grabbed the offending appendage and twisted, hearing a high-pitched scream. Her vision focused as she released her grip on the hand and saw the Blue Paladin standing in front of her. "Sorry, Lance, but you should never interrupt a Jedi when they're meditating."

Hunk snorted. "I warned him not to annoy you."

Takaki unfolded her legs as blood began to flow through them again, causing an unpleasant tingling. She rubbed both legs, trying to get the tingling to stop. "When did you two get back?"

Lance rubbed at his abused wrist and glared at her. "Last night." He turned away from her as he continued to complain. "Crazy space ninja tried to break my wrist."

Keith sat up as he stretched. "She would have probably done it too if you hadn't screamed."

Pidge groaned as she gazed up at the ceiling. "What in the hell is the matter with you, Lance?"

"I wanted to make sure she was alive. I mean, she's sitting there not moving, and I swear it looked like she wasn't breathing either."

Takaki rolled her eyes. "You know there are other ways to check if a person is alive besides poking the person."

Pidge sat up as she giggled. "Lance, you poked the bear now you have to deal with the fallout."

Hunk fidgeted as he gazed at the White Paladin. "Why were you meditating?"

Takaki sighed. "I can't sleep. I need to know that Takashi is going to be okay."

Lance gazed at her. "Why do you call him Takashi? I mean, we all call him Shiro."

Keith snorted. "That is a stupid question, Lance." He hopped off the bed. "He's her brother, so she's calling him by his name."

"I thought his name was Shiro."

Keith snorted again. "No, Lance. Shiro is just a nickname. His name is Takashi Shirogane."

Lance narrowed his eyes at Keith as he put his hands on his hips. "And how would you know that?"

Keith shook his head in disbelief. "Shiro was my mentor at the garrison, or did you happen to forget?"

Lance took two steps forward and leaned toward Keith. "Shiro should have been my mentor. You dropped out."

Keith curled his hands into fists. He tried to control his temper, but he was losing it. "I didn't drop out. I was kicked out because of the circumstances."

Pidge grinned. "Circumstances nothing. He was kicked out because he punched Iverson in the face! I had just started at the garrison and heard some of the other students talking about it. I wish I'd been there to see it."

Lance sighed as he threw his hands up in the air.

Hunk sighed. "Guys, I'm going to make something for breakfast. I think we all need something." He placed his hands-on Lance's shoulders. "Come and help me."

The Blue Paladin craned his head toward Hunk. "Why? You never want help."

"This time, I do. Let's go." Hunk pushed, and Lance was forced to leave the infirmary.

Takaki understood what the Yellow Paladin was up to, trying to calm everything down between Lance and Keith. She appreciated the gesture.

Hunk announced over the Castle's PA system that breakfast was ready. Takaki gazed at the healing pod. "I don't want to leave him."

Allura entered the infirmary. "Don't worry. I won't let Shiro be alone." The sighed as she lowered her gaze. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't insisted on going on the mission to the Galra transport hub, Shiro wouldn't be in there."

Takaki clamped her jaw shut and ground her teeth together. She knew if she spoke now, what would come out of her mouth wouldn't be forgiving. She had to get away from the Princess.

Striding away and out the doorway, she allowed her anger to rise and stomped down the hall toward the elevator. She needed some time alone, and there was one place where she'd be able to get some peace, the White Lion.

Stepping out of the elevator, she headed to the hangar, where the White Lion waited. However, she heard bootheels following her. She turned and saw Keith and Kanan trailing after her. Placing a hand on her hip, she gazed at the pair. "Why am I not surprised?"

Keith stopped in front of her. "Look, I know your hurting. We all are over what happened but getting upset at Allura doesn't change what happened."

Takaki took a step forward. "You know it was her fault that all this happened! How can you, of all people, be so forgiving? Takashi is like a brother to you. And that wound that Takashi suffered from the witch is like poison to him. It was pure dark energy. She tried to kill him. Why do you think I got so sick on the planet. I recognized it for what it was."

Kanan placed a hand on her shoulder. "Look, we do understand. But you have to let go of this anger and calm yourself down. You're not doing yourself any good."

Takaki reached up and knocked his hand off her shoulder. "I understand perfectly. But right now, I need to be alone, okay? I need to sort through this by myself, and I'm not particularly good company right now. So just let me be."

Kanan sighed. "Perhaps this time, you're right."

Keith reached out to grab her arm as she turned and strode away. But Kanan stopped him. "Let her go."

Takaki sat in her seat in the White Lion's cockpit. "Why should I be forgiving? I can't believe she bothered to show her face in the infirmary in the first place!"

The White Lion purred. It seemed like a question, so Takaki decided to answer it. "I'm talking about Princess Allura. She's coming into the infirmary while my brother is still in a healing pod. He wouldn't have been hurt in the first place if she'd just stayed here in the Castle while we went on our mission. But no, she had to insist on going along with us and then gets herself captured. Who in the universe does that? I mean it, who does that?"

The White Lion made a sound that seemed like a snort. "Well, yeah, Ezra would do something like that because he's young."

Another purr came from the White Lion.

Takaki cocked an eyebrow. "So, you're telling me that Allura did it because she's also young." She frowned as she mulled that in her mind as she sat in silence. She remembered how Coran had mentioned that the Castle was over six hundred years old and how he had seen it take to the skies of Altea when he was young and that it was a creation of his grandfathers. "So, Allura could be as old as the other Paladins. Like Hunk, Lance, and Keith?"

The White Lion purred again.

"So, these Alteans are a naturally long-lived race. And she has known both peace but also remembers how the war started between the Alteans and the Galra." She leaned back in her seat as she raised a hand to her forehead, propping her head up. Releasing a sigh, Takaki leaned her chair back. "I hope you understand I can't forgive her yet, but I can try to get along with her but as long as she doesn't try to force her way onto another mission. That I will say no to because of what happened."

The White Lion purred, sounding almost like a chuckle to her ears.

Takaki sighed again. "You know, for a sentient mechanical cat, you sure are having some fun at my expense."

Takaki entered the infirmary to find everyone there, including Allura and Coran.

Zeb gazed at her. "Where were you?"

"I was spending some time with the White Lion. She put me to sleep."

Kanan turned toward her as his eye glinted with humor. "Sounds to me the lion has more sense than the pilot."

Takaki rolled her eyes as she strode past the crew of the Ghost and joined Hunk and Keith at the healing pod. Lance sat by Hunk on one of the steps while Pidge hovered nearby.

Hunk drew everyone's attention to the pod. "Is he okay?"

Allura raised her head and gazed toward the Paladins. "Sometimes, the healing process can cause involuntary brain wave reactions."

Hunk gripped his chin. "He looks like he's having a bad dream."

Keith gazed at the pod. "He got blasted by a space witch and mauled by some giant lizards. What dream could be worse than that?"

Takaki shook her head. "I don't know, but I have some ideas." Her mind drifted back to the death of Haxus. Her body shuddered. Why was that memory returning?

Allura turned her gaze back down to the controls. "He'll be waking any moment."

The Paladins began to crowd in front of the pod, waiting for their leader to wake. Shiro's eyelids opened, and he released a sigh. He was greeted by the happy smiling faces of his team.

The cover of the pod disappeared. He took an unsteady step forward. Keith and Takaki were at his sides. Keith quickly slid himself under the older man's Galran arm while Takaki dove under his human arm. Turning her gaze up to his face. "Let us do the work."

Keith and Takaki led the way toward the infirmaries doors. She turned her gaze back to Shiro. "I'm sure you want a shower to feel human again." Turning her head, she gazed back at Hunk. "I think he'd also like something to eat."

Shiro stopped. "There's something I remembered from when I escaped the Galra."

Takashi shook her head. "Later."

Shiro sighed. "You're treating me like a child."

Keith snorted. "Says the man who makes bad sound effects."

Pidge gasped from behind them and then giggled. "Shiro is a child." She pointed at him. "He was born on a leap year that means Takaki is one too."

Lance caught onto what the Green Paladin was saying. "That makes them both six." He couldn't stop the grin that flashed across his face or the chuckle.

As Keith and Takaki exited the infirmary, she asked. "What's a leap year, baby?"

Shiro sighed as he gazed up at the ceiling.

Talk around the dining table was muted as people kept their eye on Shiro. Each one silently hoped that he was one hundred percent healed but seeing how he was in the healing pod, which made everyone guess that his dreams were troubled.

Shiro set his fork and knife down on his plate. He picked up his cup and took a sip out of his cup and put it back down. Clearing his throat, he gazed at everyone. "I remembered something from when I escaped from Zarkon's prison. A Galra by the name of Ulaz helped me to escape."

Several utensils clattered to the table, plates, or even on the floor as all eyes were now trained on him. Allura, however, jumped up to her feet, and her chair fell backward as it landed with a metallic thump on the floor. "That's not possible! The Galra are monsters!"

Takaki shook her head. "I can't believe that. I've run into people disillusioned by the Empire's heavy-handed way of doing things." She turned toward Shiro. "I do believe you, Takashi. Are you certain?"

Shiro nodded as he held up the Galra arm. "He said he put the coordinates to a secret base in my hand."

Pidge leaned forward. "We can find out if you let me take a look at your hand in my lab."

Shiro smiled at the teen. "If anyone can find it, I'm sure you can."

Shiro sat on an improvised stool as his Galra arm lay on the desk in front of a severe piece of equipment that Pidge had put together. The Green Paladins fingers flew over the keyboard as symbols flashed brightly across the lenses of her glasses. "I'm not seeing any coordinates here. Are you sure it wasn't just a dream?"

Shiro sighed. "I'm positive. Ulaz helped me escape."

Allura stared down at him. "And he was Galra?"

Shiro sighed again. "Yes."

Takaki recognized that look on Takashi's face. His frustration over not being believed was rising to the surface as his face started to harden, and he ran his human hand through his hair.

Allura continued to stare down at him. "You know you cannot trust them."

Shiro glared but couldn't bring his eyes up to reach hers. "Your father must have trusted them once." He quickly turned his head to gaze up at her. "Zarkon was the original Black Paladin, wasn't he?"

Allura gazed away from him, unable to bring herself to make eye contact. "That was a long time ago."

Lance's eyes grew as his eyebrows rose. "Wait, what?"

Keith, who stood on the other side of Allura, gazed past her toward Lance. "Didn't you see how he stole the Black Lion out from under Shiro? Or that he could do all that cool stuff with his bayard? Shiro's bayard? You know the black one?"

As Allura closed her eyes, Shiro jabbed at her again verbally. "Why didn't you tell us the truth about Zarkon?"

Allura's head lowered. "I wanted to protect you from the dark history of the paladins so you would have a chance to bond with your lion on your own. You are the Black Paladin, not Zarkon."

Takaki frowned. "You have a funny way of protecting people."

Shiro reached up and touched Takaki's forearm before gazing away from Allura again. "Yeah, well, the Black Lion may have a different take on the matter."

Takaki reached down and placed her hand on Shiro's shoulder.

Pidge perked up as she sat up straighter. "Wait a second. I think I see it now. Some repeating numbers in all this Galra code. Let me extract it." She directed the numbers to a large drop-down holographic screen in her lab. "They are coordinates. They lead here, the Thaldycon System."

Shiro grabbed the cable that Pidge had plugged into his mechanical wrist and pulled it, removing the cable. He stood with his focus solely o the holographic screen. "That's where we're heading."

Keith crossed his arms over his chest. "Shiro, are you sure you can trust them?" He let his arms fall to his sides. "I mean after all the Galra have done to you. They-They took your arm."

Shiro turned to face the Red Paladin. "It's worth the risk. Ulaz helped me escape. If we can find some allies in this fight against Zarkon, especially from his own side, we might find a way to take him down."

Allura sucked in a breath and released it in a sigh. "We can check out the location, but I do not like this. The Galra are not be trusted."

Ezra sighed. "She sounds like a broken protocol droid."

Kanan smacked his young padawan on the back of the head. "You have no sense of tact."

Ezra frowned as his blue eyes locked on his master. He reached up and rubbed at the back of his head. "So, I'm just telling the truth."

Takaki glared at Allura. "Why can't you believe that maybe not all Galra think the same way as Zarkon?"

"You haven't lost your world or your family to the Galra."

Takaki crossed her arms over her chest. "Maybe not, but I did lose everything I knew to a self-appointed Emperor. So, yes, I do know what it's like to lose everything. Everyone from the Ghost has lost someone or something. So yes, we all know what it's like. And you still have Coran!

"Kanan lost the Jedi Order, the same as me. Sabine was branded as a traitor by her people and her family. She can't return home unless she wants to face execution. Zeb lost his whole world when the Empire attacked his planet, and Ezra's parents were arrested by the Empire. Hera left her home to fight the Empire her own way. Since then, we became a family, and all of us had trust issues, but we've learned to trust each other. Maybe you should learn to trust my brother's instincts. I do."

Allura shook her head. "It's not that I don't trust him. I do, after all, you all risked to free me. I feel that this is another trap."

Shiro turned to the Altean Princess. "Then, there's only one way to find out."

The Castle emerged from the wormhole into an odd field of beautiful looking crystals. Sabine's eyes lit up. "I think I'm feeling inspired to paint something new."

Coran didn't take his eyes off the screen. "Well, this is it. No sign of any activity at all, living or otherwise."

Shiro, who sat at his station, gazed at the older man. "Can we get in there to take a closer look?"

Coran shook his head. "I don't want to bring the Castle in any closer. Those Xanthorium chunks contain highly unstable nitrate salts. Even bumping one of them can blow us straight to Wozblay."

Sabine placed her hand on her hip. "Pretty and explosive, this is perfect."

Ezra shook his head. "Only you get a kick out of pretty and explosive."

She pushed her bangs out of her face as a smirk pulled at her lips. "Of course."

Shiro frowned. "Coran, are you sure this is right?"

"These are the coordinates Number Six gave me."

Pidge yelled from her seat. "Hey! My decryption is solid!"

Shiro frowned. "There must be something we're missing."

Allura didn't hesitate as she gave her own opinion of the situation. "We should get out of here. We've checked it out, but now it's time to move on."

Shiro shook his head. "No. There must be something more to this. I can feel it. I think we should wait."

Zeb wandered over to Takaki's station and glanced over her shoulder at her holographic screen. He couldn't make heads or tails out of what she was studying. "What do we do now?"

Takaki turned her gaze up the Lasat's yellow eyes. "We wait."

Zeb sighed. "I hate waiting."

Takaki snorted. "Oh, yes, I know how much you hate it. You'd rather be punching bucket heads than waiting."

Zeb grinned. "Exactly." He laced his fingers together and cracked his knuckles.

Takaki cringed. "You know, I hate when you do that."

Zeb reached up and rubbed at the back of his head. "Sorry, but I'm bored."

An alarm began going off while red flashed across the bridge. Coran turned slightly and yelled over his shoulder, "There's an intruder in the Castle."

Lance jumped up out of his seat. "How could someone sneak aboard the ship?"

Allura brought up security cameras. "I knew coming here was a mistake! There he is. Level five."

Shiro stood. "Paladins, suit up."

Kanan gazed at his own little family. "Let's help." He stared pointedly at Zeb. "Now, you can fight someone."

Ezra smirked. "Finally. I get to use my lightsaber."

Kanan turned to the teen. "Only if you have to. I think the Paladins want him alive to answer questions."

Ezra let out a sigh and muttered. "What good is there having a lightsaber if I don't get to use it."

Kanan shook his head. "Don't worry. You'll get to use it, but not today."

Shiro and Takaki ran down a hall. Lance's voice came over her helmet. "I got him."

Shiro replied, "Keep eyes on him, Lance. We're all headed toward you."

Takaki shook her head as the intruder evaded Lance while Coran gave a running play by play of what was happening. She heard Lance yell, "Coran, you're not helping." Silently she agreed with Lance.

Coran's voice again echoed throughout the Castle. "Coming your way, Number six!"

Pidge's voice came over their helmets, "I got him!" But a second later, she yelled, "I don't got him!"

Coran yelled, "He's dragging Pidge away!"

Takaki turned her head to Shiro. "Any ideas on how to stop him?"

Shiro shrugged as they ran. "Maybe surround him?"

She frowned, but it didn't sound like a half-bad idea.

Pidge grunted and yelled, "Hunk!"

The Yellow Paladin replied, "Huh? Sorry!"

Takaki resisted the urge to smack her face. These teens needed more combat training.

Coran's voice came over the PA system. "It's up to Keith, now."

Keith replied, "Copy that. I'm ready."

Shiro and Takaki appeared to see Keith being thrown into Lance and Hunk. Shiro stepped up behind the intruder and activated his weaponized hand, and when the intruder turned, the Black Paladin thrust out his arm with his hand aimed for the intruder's neck. While the intruder held his short sword up aimed for Shiro's chest.

Takaki reached out with the Force using it to hold the arm in place. Kanan and Ezra appeared and also used the Force to push the intruder backward a step. When Shiro was no longer in danger, Takaki released her hold on the intruder's arm.

Zeb groaned. "You mean, after all, that I missed getting a chance to hit him?"

The intruder lowered his weapon, and his face mask disappeared, showing the face of a Galra with a mohawk like hairstyle. His gaunt face was stoic in appearance as he stared back at the Black Paladin.

Shiro allowed his prosthetic arm to fall to his side as he stared at the Galra in front of him. "Ulaz?"

Allura appeared out of nowhere and slammed Ulaz up against the wall. "Who are you?"

Shiro stared at the Princess. "Stop! It's him! This is the Galra who set me free!"

Ulaz gazed at Shiro. "You've come."

Allura slapped a pair of restraints on the Galra's wrists. She turned to Lance, Hunk, and Keith. "Take him to the lounge. Once there, put restraints around his ankles."

Zeb frowned. "Karabast!"

Sabine tucked her helmet under her arm and pat the Lasat on the arm. "Maybe next time, big guy."

Zeb shook his head. "Let me get one punch in on him. Just one?"

Kanan gazed at the Lasat. "He's a prisoner now. We can't do that."

Zeb groaned.

Shiro frowned as he gazed Ulaz with wrist and ankle restraints as he sat on a couch. "I don't think this is necessary."

Allura glared at Ulaz as she crossed her arms over her body. "I will not have some quiznaking Galra soldier on the bridge of my ship!"

Ulaz gazed up at her from under his brows. "If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already."

"Are your Galra threats supposed to win my trust?"

Ulaz shook his head. "I'm not trying to win your trust. I'm trying to win a war. And because of Shiro, we are closer than we'd ever been. Our gamble on you paid off better than we could have ever imagined."

Shiro gazed at Ulaz. He still hated seeing the Galra who'd freed him chained up like an animal. "When you released me, you mentioned others were working with you."

"Yes. We are called the Blade of Marmora."

Hunk's eyes grew. "Uh, others? Are they here?"

Lance crossed his arms over his chest as he sighed. "Hunk, can you try not to act scared in front of the prisoner. It makes us look a little lame."

Ulaz replied to Hunk's question. "I am alone on this base."

Allura's face hardened as she glared at Ulaz. "What is this base you're talking about? Shiro's coordinates just led us to this wasteland."

"The base is hidden. Now that I know it is Shiro that has come, you are welcome to our outpost. It lies dead ahead."

Pidge pushed her glasses up her nose. "Behind all the Xanthorium clusters?"

"No. Right in front of it, in a hidden pocket of space-time."

Takaki listened, and she was open to the Force. As Ulaz spoke, she didn't sense any kind of deceit or that he was trying to hide the truth. The Galra was being open. She gazed at Shiro. "He's telling the truth."

Allura gazed up at the ceiling. "Coran, are you hearing this?"

Coran's voice came over the lounge's PA system in the lounge. "I am picking up some kind of anomaly on the screen. I suppose it could be a cloaked base."

Ulaz kept his emotions in check. "Just fly straight for the center of the Xanthorium cluster. You will see."

Allura glared at the Galra. "You think you're going to get me to destroy our ship because you say so?"

Takaki glared at her. "Didn't you hear what I said? He's telling the truth!"

Allura turned her gaze on Takaki. "You're still upset over Shiro."

Takaki stepped forward. "Yes, I'm still upset over Takashi, but I'm not letting my own hatred for an entire race cloud my judgment!"

Shiro stepped in between the two women. "Takaki, back off." He turned to face Allura. "We came out here to find some answers. Are we going to turn back now?"

Keith turned his gaze to the Black Paladin. "You know I trust you, Shiro, but this doesn't feel right."

Lance frowned. "You know I hate to agree with Keith, but it's a big ditto for me."

Pidge, who stood on the other side of Shiro, pushed her glasses up her nose. "The Galra could have implanted fake memories of the escape in your head."

Hunk stared down at the Green Paladin. "Oh, come on, that would be so evil, which of course they are. But they'd have to come up with some molecular level storage unit, which his hand does have. But to be linked up to memory, it would need a direct pathway to his brain, which— yeah." His eyes grew as he stared at the Black Paladin.

Shiro turned his head to stare at the Yellow Paladin. "Ulaz freed me. Without him, we wouldn't be here."

Allura blinked at Shiro. "Fine. Slow and steady, Coran. Head for the Xanthorium cluster."

Coran's voice came from the lounge's intercom. "Yes, Princess. Beginning approach. Impact imminent in five, four, three, two." He paused in his countdown. "Well, that's something."

Allura gazed at the ceiling. "What is it?"

"Putting it up on screens."

Allura and the Paladins turned to gaze at the screen in the lounge.

Takaki stared at the screen seeing the colors flash by of the spatial tunnel the Castle was in. It reminded her of a hyperspace lane.

Pidge's eyes grew. "Amazing. They're folding space."

Hunk's eyes widened. "It's like a space taco. Or a space calzone. Or even a space-time soup dumpling, and we're the soup. Hey, is there a cafeteria on this thing?"

The Castle came out of the tunnel facing an odd, shaped ship that looked similar to a child's spinning top that had landed on its side. Ulaz chose that moment to speak. "Welcome to the Blade of Marmora Communications Base Thaldycon. Now, if you'll free me, I need to send a message to the leadership. They need to know I've contacted Voltron."

Allura turned to Shiro. "Go with him and keep an eye on him. I'm staying here."

Hunk nearly jumped up and down. "Ooh! Can we go?"

Pidge bounced up and down. "I want to see how they make the space pocket!"

Lance preened like a make peacock trying to attract a mate. "You guys go ahead. I'll hang back and protect the princess."

Allura grimaced as she groaned.

Takaki crossed her arms over her chest. "I think I'll stay behind too."

Shiro grabbed her by the arm. "No, your coming with us. I don't need the two of you coming to blows while we're gone."

Takaki stamped her foot on the deck. "You don't understand, Takashi. She really needs someone to knock that stick out of her butt, and it might knock some sense into her."

"Not today."

Turning her head to face him. "Warning. When we get back, I'm gonna settle this with her on the training deck. But don't worry, I won't be using my lightsaber."

"Good idea. Now let's go. You might learn something."

Takaki rolled her eyes but followed Shiro out the door.

As the Red Lion approached the station, Ulaz pointed out an area where an energy beam flowed out from it. "This is the gravity generator that creates the space-time fold that hides the station. It was created by a reclusive genius engineer named Slav. His technology allows the Blade of Marmora to remain hidden while taking down the Galra Empire. Zarkon would do anything to get his hands on this technology."

From his seat in the cockpit of the Red Lion, Keith asked, "Is there Galra out there that aren't loyal to Zarkon?"

As he brought the Red Lion in to dock with the station, Ulaz sighed. "We thought expanding the Galra Empire would bring stability. We learned too late that a tyrant doesn't seek stability, only power."

Takaki sighed. "Sounds like when Chancellor Palpatine took over the Republic and called it the Empire."

Ulaz led the way onto the station. Which just consisted of enough machinery to act as a listening post and pass on Galra communications to the Blade of Marmora. He stopped at the main communications panel. "With our members on the inside, planning coordinated attacks with Voltron, we may finally have a chance."

Hunk gazed at Ulaz. "So, you have agents working within Zarkon's ranks?"

Ulaz turned his body slightly to gaze at the Yellow Paladin. "How do you think you got away from Zarkon in that last fight? Do you think those shields around Zarkon's command center went down on their own? We've got people risking their lives, just like you."

Pidge took a step forward. "If you have people on the inside, can they tell me where my family is? They were taken the same time Shiro was."

"I knew others from Earth were captured. I never saw them, but I have some records of Galra prisoners here. I can transmit them to your ship."

Keith gazed at Ulaz. "What's that weapon you carry?"

Ulaz turned to Keith. "It's a ceremonial blade that each member of our order carries." He pulled it out from its sheath and held it out toward the Red Paladin.

Keith gazed at it. "Hmm, nice."

Before anyone else could say anything, an alarm began to blare at the communications station. Ulaz recognized it for what it was as he spun around and glared at the paladins. "You were tracked!"

Pidge gazed up at the Galra. "What? Us?"

Keith glared at Ulaz. "If Zarkon knows we're here, it's because you ratted us out!"

Takaki sighed. "We don't know how Zarkon figured out where we are, but we won't get anywhere if we constantly blame each other."

Hunk stared at the screen. "It's another of Zarkon's Robeasts."

For the first time, Shiro spoke. "We have to get back to the ship."

Ulaz turned. "Shiro, wait." He held up a device and passed it to the Black Paladin. "These are instructions on how to reach the Blade of Marmora headquarters. Before you go, find out how Zarkon is tracking you. If you lead him there, everything we have worked for will be destroyed."

The Paladins raced into the cockpit of the Red Lion. Shiro gazed at Keith, "Contact the Castle."

Keith brought up the image of Princess Allura, who didn't give anyone a chance to speak as she spoke first. "I knew he couldn't be trusted."

Takaki crossed her arms over her chest as she glared back at the Altean woman.

Shiro stared back at Allura. "It wasn't him."

"How can you be sure?"

Coran turned from his station. "It doesn't matter now! What should we do?"

Hunk gazed at Shiro. "Why can't we just hide here in the space clam and wait for it to go away?"

Shiro ignored him as the Red Lion entered its hangar. "Everyone get to your lions, but don't launch. We'll wait to see what this thing does. I don't want to risk fighting it if we don't have to."

Everyone hurried to their lions. The beast seemed to be scanning the field of Xanthorium clusters.

Pidge said from the cockpit of her own lion. "We should be safe as long as we're hidden in the space pocket."

The beast opened it's mouth and began sucking in the Xanthorium clusters. It's mouth closed for a quick minute, and then it opened its mouth again and fired a beam that caused more clusters to explode.

Before anyone could say anything, Ezra's face appeared over the Castle's communications channel. His blue eyes were wide. "Guys, you have to do something before we all die."

Takaki leaned forward in her seat. "Ezra, calm down. It's going to be okay."

Ezra shook his head. "How can you say that? You can see that thing out there, can't you?"

Takaki nodded. "Yes, I can see it. But you need to focus and trust in the Force."

Hunk said, "I think it knows we're here."

Shiro replied. "Hold."

The Robeast moved toward the space pocket and began firing again.

Coran's voice came over the paladin's helmets. "Direct hit! It definitely knows we're here."

As the Castle took a few more hits, the particle barrier rose. The Robeast used up its supply of Xanthorium crystals and started to suck in more ammunition.

The lion's launched, and Shiro said, "Form Voltron!"

Voltron appeared from the Xanthorium clusters and hit the beast with a right hook causing it to shoot a blast of its weapon harmlessly into space as it was knocked backward. Voltron kept punching the creature back and drove it toward another part of the Xanthorium field.

Shiro said, "Let's light this thing up. Fire lasers!"

Pidge and Keith both fired lasers knocking the beast back, even father. But it righted itself, opened its mouth, and began sucking in more clusters. Pidge gasped. "It's pulling in more ammo!"

Shiro ordered, "Move, move, move!"

Lance and Hunk activated Voltron's foot thrusters getting the giant mech out of the way. The Robeast fired its weapon causing Xanthorium clusters to explode around Voltron.

Shiro said, "Lance, Hunk, give me full reverse thrusters!"

As Voltron stopped mere inches from smacking into a chunk of Xanthorium. Takaki couldn't help but admire her brother. His decisions were fast and on point. Which brought up a new question. Was he tapping into the Force without realizing it? She knew it was possible given that they were twins, but she'd have to determine how Force-sensitive he was. Master Yoda would know but was there a way to communicate with the Jedi Master all the way out here. How may lightyears were they away from the temple on Arus? As Voltron was rocked by an explosion, she forced herself to focus on the here and now.

The Robeast started sucking in more clusters only this time, Voltron was caught in it. A chunk of Xanthorium exploded as it impacted against the great mechanical warrior.

Hunk said, "This thing wants to eat us like we're a space taco!"

Shiro grunted as he struggled against the Robeasts tractor beam. He grit his teeth together. "Can't get free!"

Takaki jammed her bayard into its slot and turned it, activating Voltron's chest weapon pushing the beast back but not enough to stop it from sucking Voltron in.

Keith said. "I'll make it back off!" The Red Lion's jaw blade appeared in the Red Lion's mouth being held like a knife in hand. The Red Paladin drew Voltron's right arm back and then it lashed out, striking the Robeast with the jaw blade, causing it to stop as if startled. Which gave the giant mechanical warrior a chance to fly into the clusters and away from the beast.

Shiro said, "We've got to keep some distance between that Robeast and us."

The beast turned and chased the mechanical warrior. It fired several quick blasts that caused crystals to explode around Voltron and had it bouncing between exploding clusters like a ping pong ball.

Lance said, "I'm burning thrusters at full capacity, and it's not making a difference."

A beam of white energy came from the Castle of Lions striking the Robeast. As Voltron moved back to stop beside the Castle, Allura asked, "Is everyone all right?"

Lance replied, "Alive, yes. All right, no."

The beast locked its tractor beam onto the Castle.

Keith yelled, "It's going for the Castle!"

Pidge replied, "We need to find a way to stop the tractor beam."

Shiro said, "I've got an idea. Pidge, form shield. We can use the shield to block the beam."

Voltron few forward and shoved the shield into the Robeasts mouth. Then proceeded to punch it backward.

Keith said, "We've stopped the beam. Now what?"

Shiro replied, "Now we go on the defensive."

Pidge said, "The Xanthorium clusters. We can use them!"

Takaki grinned. "Sounds like a good idea. Give it what its been giving us."

Voltron moved forward and grabbed the Robeast and began pushing it as the giant mechanical warrior gained speed. It stopped launching the beast into the massive central cluster when the space fold had been. An enormous explosion erupted when the beast smacked into it. Igniting others close by clusters. However, the creature appeared again and fired its weapon at Voltron again.

The mechanical warrior brought up the shield blocking the beam of energy. Pidge yelled, "The shield can't handle this much power!"

Voltron flew away, but the beast gave chase catching the warrior again in its tractor beam.

Hunk said, "We might not be strong enough to beat this thing!"

A new voice came over their communications. "Hang on!"

Shiro said, "Ulaz?"

"I'm going to take it down from the inside!"

Shiro said, "Ulaz, no! Let us handle this!"

Ulaz replied, "Voltron is too valuable. The universe needs you." He flew the ship that was the communication station into the mouth of the Robeast.

The beast closed its mouth and began to fly forward.

Shiro said, "Get ready!"

The Robeast suddenly stopped as it began to contort as if in pain.

Pidge said, "Ulaz opened up the space pocket from inside! It's folding in on itself."

The Robeast shrank until it became a tiny dot that exploded.

Keith said, "He did it! Ulaz saved us."

Shiro said, "He's— gone."

Shiro stood on the observation deck, gazing out into space.

Keith and Takaki entered the room. Takaki gazed at Shiro as she strode up near him. "Nice view you have here."

Shiro nodded but didn't say a word.

Keith gazed at Shiro's back. "Sorry, we doubted Ulaz, Shiro. He saved all our lives."

Shiro didn't turn around. I still have so many questions." His unshed tears were evident in his voice.

The doors opened, but neither Keith nor Takaki turned around. Seeing her brother suffering hurt.

Keith continued to gaze at Shiro. "Do you think Zarkon is tracking us?"

Allura's voiced joined the conversation. "We cannot know for sure. Only Ulaz knew our whereabouts."

Shiro frowned out the window. "You don't really think Ulaz gave us up?" He turned for the first time to stare back at her. "After he sacrificed himself?"

Keith spun around, anger blazing in his blue-gray eyes. "Yeah! Maybe Zarkon found out about this place on his own. He's probably been searching for the Blade of Marmora."

Allura stared back at them. "It's clear the loss of Ulaz has caused you great concern, but regardless of how Zarkon located us, we cannot stay here any longer. It isn't safe."

Keith gazed at Allura and then back at Shiro. "We should meet up with the rest of Ulaz's group, finish what we started."

Shiro shook his head. "No. We're not going to the headquarters until we figure out how Zarkon found us. We can't risk losing the only allies we have in this war."

Takaki's dark-gray eyes smoldered. Her anger was growing to a flame. She stared at Allura. "You dare come in here and talk to my brother that way. How dare you!" She balled her hands into fists. "My brother is in pain, or can't you see that?"

Allura stared at Takaki. "What are you talking about?"

Takaki slapped a hand to her chest. "I'm talking about here. Or do you hate the Galra so much that you couldn't tell that Ulaz was telling you the truth in everything he said? You just want to hate the entire race so bad." Takaki took a step forward. "I was going to challenge you to a fight on the training deck, but I think I'll do it here and now!"

Allura's eyes widened as Takaki slipped past Keith and took a swing at the princess.

"Have you gone mad?"

Takaki swung a second time as Allura ducked. "Oh, you don't know how mad I am right now. You don't listen to anyone, and you put yourself in danger, causing us to have to come bail you out. Then Takashi gets hurt and finds out about Ulaz, and you can't believe it might have happened the way he said it did. You need to be taken down a peg or two."

Shiro's voice rang out from behind the White Paladin. "STOP!"

Takaki turned to face him as she stomped her booted foot down on the deck plate. "Stop stopping me!"

Keith inserted himself between Takaki and Allura. "You know I didn't like the way she treated Ulaz either, but we had to know one way or another."

Shiro walked away from the window and reached out and placed both his hands on Takaki's shoulders. "You have to drop this anger. You're the one who explained to me where this anger and hate can lead. You need to let it go."

Takaki sighed. "I know your right, but I don't want her to marginalize anyone's sacrifice through her own anger. Everyone shouldn't be judged as bad by the actions of others in their race."

Shiro nodded. "I agree."

Takaki sighed. "Let's go, Keith. We have some training to do."

Takaki and Keith stepped onto the training deck to find Ezra and Kanan there. Ezra stared at the mice who sat a distance away. "Why do I have to connect with the mice?"

Kanan sighed as he faced Ezra. "You need to step outside of yourself. Make a connection with another being."

"But their mice." Ezra frowned. "Can we do this another day?"

"We can do it now. Focus."

Ezra reached out and seemed to focus, but he sighed. "I don't think they want to connect."

The mice just stared at the teen. The largest, Platt, cocked his head as he gazed at the teen.

Kanan sighed, "Your resisting. They can sense it."

Ezra gaped at Kanan. "They can sense it. What are these mice some kind of Padawan pets?" Ezra crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't see the point in this."

"The point," Kanan stressed as he spoke, "is that you're not alone. You're connected to every living thing in the universe. But to discover that you have to let your guard down. You have to be willing to attach to others."

"And what if I can't?"

"If you hang onto your past, if you always try to protect yourself, you'll never be a Jedi."

Ezra shrugged. "Then maybe I'll never be a Jedi."

"Kid, whatever is going on with you, you need to spill it."

Keith gasped. "Ezra, I know you want to be a Jedi. That's all you've talked about."

Ezra shrugged.

Takaki turned to Keith. "You heard what Kanan said. You should give it a try yourself. You opened yourself up to the Force once to save Takashi. You need to learn to drop your guard too."

Kanan gave a slight nod to Takaki. "That is a good idea." Kanan placed his hand on Ezra's shoulder. "To advance in your training to be a Jedi, you need to drop your guard and connect with others."

"What if I don't want to connect with others." Ezra turned and gazed at Takaki. "We all saw what connecting with others did to Takaki. I don't want to go through that."

Kanan sighed. But he didn't take his gaze off the fourteen-year-old from Lothal. "What are you afraid of?"

Ezra shook his head. "Nothing."

"No, there's something your afraid of. I can sense it."

Takaki knew Ezra's secret. She placed her hand on the teen's shoulder. "I know this is difficult, but it's time Kanan knows. You know it as well as I do."

Ezra's eyes grew. "I can't."

"Yes, you can. Kanan won't think any different of you."

Ezra's eyes grew even larger. "I can't. I'm afraid."

Kanan chuckled. "I got news for you, kid. Everyone's afraid, but admitting it as you just did, makes you braver than most, and it's a step forward."

Ezra tried reaching out again.

Kanan sighed. "You're blocked. Let go. Don't be afraid."

Ezra snorted slightly as he gazed at the mice. "I'm not afraid of them."

Kanan narrowed his eyes and glared at the teenager. "Then what?"

"I don't know."

Kanan replied forcefully. "Yes, you do! What are you afraid of?"

"I'm afraid of – I'm afraid of not knowing if my parents are alive or dead. I'm afraid of the truth."

The mice suddenly squeaked and rushed forward.

Takaki smiled. "You did it. You dropped your guard and connected with the mice."

Kanan placed his hand on Ezra's shoulder. "You know. I never knew my parents. Once they discovered I was Force-sensitive as a baby, they turned me over to the Jedi temple. That's just how it was done back then."

Takaki nodded. "Cherish their memory, Ezra."


End file.
